December 19, 2017•Update: December 19, 2017
By Muhammad Mussa
LONDON
Twitter has suspended three accounts tied to right-wing group Britain First as part of its revised anti-abuse rules.
Britain First leader Paul Golding and deputy leader Jayda Fransen’s verified accounts were unavailable as of Monday afternoon. The organization’s main account, @BritainFirstHQ, has also been suspended.
Other right-wing groups such as the English Defence league and Europe’s far-right Generation Identity have also had their accounts permanently suspended.
The social networking service has come under increasing criticism for not doing enough to target online hate speech and abuse and has been accused of providing a platform for such hate groups.
The new terms and conditions, which were leaked in October but announced in November, are part of a two-year campaign to combat and counteract malicious and inappropriate content, according to Chief Executive Jack Dorsey.
The new rules forbid users from affiliating themselves with groups or organizations that promote hate crimes and abuse as well as taking into account offline activity.
Besides forbidding hate speech, Twitter has also prohibited users from using “hateful images or symbols”, and a breach of any of the new rules will lead to a permanent suspension.
“We’ve updated our rules around abuse and hateful conduct as well as violence and physical harm. These changes will be enforced starting December 18,” Twitter said in a statement.
Fransen and her group Britain First attained global attention when U.S. President Donald Trump retweeted a series of anti-Islamic and inflammatory videos she posted last month. She and Golding were held in custody and summoned to court hearings in Belfast earlier this week on charges of hate speech and behavior that was intended to stir up hatred and division.
