Naah, but it’s still a notable step coming months after urban violence in cities across the US organized by the group. The New York Post reported this morning that Twitter has taken down a few Antifa-related accounts, with the relatively modest number of 71,000 followers combined. It’s not even clear what might have triggered the suspensions:
Twitter has suspended several popular Antifa accounts with more than 71,000 followers combined following Inauguration Day riots.
At least four accounts tied with the militant group have been yanked offline — @JewishWorker, @RevAbolition, @RevAbolitionNYC and @TheBaseBK, the account for the anarchist center in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Archived web pages of the accounts show they shared more than 71,000 followers and dated as far back as 2012.
Their pages now read “account suspended” for violating Twitter rules.
Ed Driscoll wryly commented, “Leftist useful idiots no longer quite as useful,” but it’s not clear that’s what happened here. When Twitter went after the QAnoners and others in the far-right after the January 6th riots, they took down tens of thousands of accounts — although those may have been mostly bots, as Twitter claimed.
Four accounts do not a purge make, but perhaps it’s just a good start. Or a bad omen, as another Antifa-linked Twitter account claimed:
Breaking: @Twitter has suspended several prominent #antifa accounts. @TheBaseBK is one of them. The Base is an extremist bookstore in Brooklyn, NY that has been used as an antifa training center. pic.twitter.com/CeCIhzpJBQ
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) January 21, 2021
..theres a void.The Base took the same approach to Twitter as they do in the struggle for liberation. As anarchists they take a stand & never waver. Its inspiring. And we encourage everyone to check their site now & periodically https://t.co/PEqeOTa8WH Solidarity forever! pic.twitter.com/SpxKlZdbJo
— Antifa Sacramento (@AntifaSac_) January 22, 2021
Perhaps Twitter has started feeling some pressure to treat mob violence equally. Or perhaps these four accounts stepped over the line in some specific way that prompted the action without any particular strategy in mind. It’s worth watching, but if Jack Dorsey can’t bring himself to ban a terror-supporting maniac like Ali Khamenei, then don’t get your hopes up about an Antifa purge in the near future either.
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