Shadow Banning Back at Twitter? Strange Thing Happens When You Search for Popular Conservative Account
Shortly after Elon Musk took the keys to Twitter HQ, he promised that, in short order, there would be a way to find out if your account had been “shadow banned” — that is to say that it wouldn’t show up in searches or on users’ feeds.
“Twitter is working on a software update that will show your true account status, so you know clearly if you’ve been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal,” he tweeted in December.
Twitter is working on a software update that will show your true account status, so you know clearly if you’ve been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
That hasn’t happened yet. And in February, according to Gizmodo, Musk seemed to suspect his own employees were shadow banning him.
The practice may still be alive and well, as some Twitter users suspect after searching for the popular conservative Twitter account “Libs of TikTok.”
On Monday night, certain users began noticing that the account — well-known for posting the excesses of the left — didn’t seem to be showing up in searches.
The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles was one of the first to post publicly about the phenomenon:
.@libsoftiktok isn’t showing up in Twitter search. Weird! pic.twitter.com/0HhnImR55H
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) June 27, 2023
Knowles’ tweet was retweeted by the LibsofTikTok account, with a complaint that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.
.@elonmusk and I get dozens of messages a week from people telling me they never see my tweets anymore… what’s going on?
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 27, 2023
“@elonmusk and I get dozens of messages a week from people telling me they never see my tweets anymore… what’s going on?” the retweet asked.
Search results on early Tuesday morning brought up the same question.
All of these are imitation or parody accounts of the actual account, which doesn’t show up.
As of 11:15 a.m. Eastern Time, ShadowBird, a website that tracks shadowbanned accounts, had the Libs of TikTok page listed under a “search suggestion ban.”
Now, why might this be? The Western Journal has reached out to Twitter for an answer, but the communications team is not famous for responding to media inquiries. In fact, since March, it has answered emails from the media with an image of human excretion — a “poop emoji” in the vernacular.
press@twitter.com now auto responds with 💩
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2023
It did the same with The Western Journal on Tuesday, which leaves plenty of uncomfortable room to speculate about why Libs of TikTok is missing from Twitter searches.
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact this is “pride” month and Libs of TikTok has been chronicling the debauchery that’s been taking place at those family-friendly pride parades happening from coast-to-coast:
WARNING: The following videos contain extremely graphic footage and language that some viewers will find offensive.
This man twerking for kids appears to be the same man who twerked for kids at last year’s Minnesota pride parade. Is this a yearly tradition? https://t.co/fhLNQ4wkEJ
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 25, 2023
Fully naked men expose their genitalia in front of children at Seattle pride parade https://t.co/xxKh8m8vwC
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 25, 2023
The party of love, tolerance, and acceptance is encouraging kids to be violent towards people with opposing views https://t.co/So6BZUILun
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 26, 2023
The “all ages family-friendly” Denver pride festival featured a performer singing about oral sex while another performer acted out a sex scene on stage.
They also invited a bunch of people on stage to twerk for the audience. pic.twitter.com/OtharDp3x4
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 26, 2023
The biggest controversy seems to have been caused by footage of the naked men on bikes who exposed their genitalia to children at a Seattle pride event. This seems to have triggered plenty of libs — including Brian Krassenstein, one-time #resistance keyboard warrior hero, who’s gotten himself in a pickle by trying to defend the degenerates:
We are now on day 2 of the Krassensteins desperately trying to tweet their way out of this. Left wing journalists are more upset that I raised awareness about sick perverts showing their junk to kids than the fact that sick perverts showed their junk to kids. pic.twitter.com/LqkhXNzSrw
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 26, 2023
Whatever the case — what’s the big deal? Aren’t some of these pride events supposed to be all-ages, after all? Libs of TikTok is just collecting all of this great pride-month family fun in one easy-to-access place. What, are the people at Twitter prudes or something?
Some Twitter users speculated it might all be completely innocent, caused simply by technical glitches. And maybe that’s the case, maybe it’s not.
But the reality is, conservatives have seen too much from social media companies to give any of them the benefit of the doubt, including the Musk-owned Twitter under its previous management.
Now it’s time for Elon Musk to step in and stay true to his commitment to free expression.
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