Actress and director Rose McGowan’s Twitter account has been limited after it “violated the Twitter Rules.”
Over the past several days, McGowan has been among the most vocal people after Harvey Weinstein’s decades-long history of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape came to light in reports from the New York Times and the New Yorker. She singled out Ben Affleck for enabling Weinstein and has called for the entire board of the Weinstein Company to resign, alleging that the board knew about Weinstein’s history of misconduct, and while she can’t legally speak about her own experience with Weinstein, she’s encouraged others to come forward.
However, McGowan revealed on Instagram that Twitter limited her account, which would require her to delete offending content she posted, then be unable to tweet, retweet, or like posts for 12 hours. McGowan referred to it as a suspension.
“TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME,” she wrote. “THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE.”
This is different, however, from an actual suspension, where users are unable to view the account. McGowan’s Twitter account is still online.
It’s unclear which tweet or tweets led to Twitter limiting McGowan’s account, though some people believe it had to do with her tweets directed toward Affleck. And users have quickly called out the hypocrisy of Twitter silencing McGowan—an advocate for women and victims of sexual assault—while it allows white supremacists and neo-Nazis to tweet, and while Donald Trump’s Twitter threats were deemed “newsworthy.”
.@RoseMcGowan is apparently a bigger threat than the president who attacks American citizens and threatens dangerous world leaders online. https://t.co/eVZfTYPbTD
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) October 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/LTone/status/918354946856120320
So let me get this straight: Rose McGowan gets suspended but @twitter is fine with neo-nazis continuing to hate mob? https://t.co/NGL16mm3ZQ
— Nope. (@JoyAnnReid) October 12, 2017
Hey @Twitter let us know which of these rules @rosemcgowan broke. Asking for multiple victims of sexual violence. https://t.co/eiZjQeMAVg
— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) October 12, 2017
McGowan hasn’t posted on social media since revealing her access was revoked.
Update 9:48am CT, Oct. 12: Twitter has unlocked McGowan’s account, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Her Ben Affleck tweet is still up.
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/917844865806778368
Update 11:14am CT, Oct. 12: Amid growing backlash, Twitter revealed that McGowan’s account was locked because she posted a “private phone number” in one of her tweets and vowed to be “clearer” in regards to its policies.
“Twitter is proud to empower and support the voices on our platform, especially those that speak truth to power,” it said. “We stand with the brave women and men who use Twitter to share their stories, and will work hard every day to improve our processes to protect those voices.”
https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/918502629679939584
https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/918502672843411456
https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/918502757102903296
