Posted on 10/11/2023 5:45:52 AM PDT by shortstop
Tapping on the Twitter icon recently, as I have done for a dozen years, I found a notice from the company, under its new name, telling me that I had been permanently banned, that my account was closed and that I would never be allowed to open another.
“After careful review,” it read, “we determined your account broke the X Rules.”
No specifics, no citation, no offending tweet. Just, you’re gone. I’ve never been warned, put on probation or otherwise censured or chastised by the company. All I’ve ever heard from Twitter were entreaties – which I declined – to monetize my account and make money from my posts.
My account had about 29,400 followers and was used by me to provide news, commentary and publicity to people and events primarily in the upstate New York region. Its loss is unpleasant for me, of course, but more importantly leaves unserved the interests of those who followed it or saw it shared.
I can’t speak to its quality, but I do know I attempted to make it useful. And, as a 40-year newsman in radio, newspaper and television, I have the ability to do that. I’m not saying I’m not an idiot, but I have repeatedly been honored by the New York State Broadcasters Association, and have statewide Associated Press awards as a newspaper columnist, radio broadcaster and television commentator. I’m a former Army journalist of the year, have won awards as a photojournalist, and have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. I host market-leading radio talk shows in Rochester and Syracuse, New York, and I’ve sold more books than Andrew Cuomo.
None of which means anything more than, I can probably handle a Twitter account.
And I attempted to use this Twitter account as a service, a non-monetized product offering conservative commentary and filling a vacuum in an under-served news market. I believe the account over time broke as many news stories in the Rochester and Syracuse regions as the some of the fully staffed newsrooms in those markets.
I posted documents and news tips on the account for other news organizations to follow up on and flesh out for the communities we together serve. I used it as my seat in their news meetings. I have sources throughout the upstate region and often receive confidential information from senior government officials of both parties which I distributed on Twitter.
I used the account to bring attention to worthy people and causes, highlighting exceptional high school athletes and acts of selfless kindness and service. I tried to make it a place where heroes could be highlighted.
The account successfully pushed office holders and companies to change their positions, to address problems and to find solutions for individuals and communities who had been wronged. It got dangling utility wires fixed, unkempt streets swept, dangerous conditions addressed, unpatrolled streets policed and hungry people fed. It became a place where the powerless knew their voices could be heard, whether leaking something about a company or a government, or challenging neglect and unfairness.
And, when they needed it, I kicked the hell out of the powerful. Whether they were in the boardroom or at the anchor desk or in Congress. I tried to make people laugh and think, and I tried to draw them to the account, to establish a platform for the communication of useful information.
And every day I took the account with me to the streets of the city of Rochester, where people and issues and pictures that would otherwise go unseen and unheard got a forum.
And all of that is gone.
With no true recourse or reconsideration. Twitter ignores your challenge of its decision, the politicians and government agencies that might provide relief are probably all glad to see the account gone, and there is no ombudsmen or referee to stand in judgement.
There is no appeal, and there is no explanation why. No identity is revealed for the invisible hand of censorship that decided to extinguish an annoyance. It’s like a sniper shot: You don’t know where it comes from, you just know the lights go out.
Was it Elon Musk, who I criticized for degrading the Twitter product? Was it the online antifa that continually attacks and silences conservative voices? Was it Democrat operatives worried about my attacks on their candidates and office holders? Was it Republican operatives worried about my attacks on their candidates and office holders?
Was it the state government? Was it the federal government? Was it the green-energy titans or the folks at some company, bank or non-profit I had held up to scrutiny? Was it someone I pissed off in law enforcement? Was it the DEI and CRT gurus angered by my persistent opposition? Was it the universities which I routinely fry?
Who was it who decided to destroy this community of communication for doing what journalism is supposed to do?
I’ll probably never know.
Which leaves them free to strike again. Somewhere else, someone else, at their capricious will, crushing because they can. Silencing the new voices of the free press.
And that’s what these accounts are, an organic raising of the American voice. On a TikTok, in a Facebook Live, on Instagram and Twitter. This account had a larger audience than the first two newspapers I wrote for, and it had a more dedicated following.
And what happened to me, can happen to others, and probably has, hundreds and thousands of times over.
Social media companies want you to use them so they can use you. I fear they want to herd you like sheep, feed you videos and memes to piss you off so they can steer your thoughts and control your votes.
But if you think for yourselves, if you depart from the narrative, if you establish an independent following, well, just like with a sniper, the lights go out.
If you ever wonder which side Musk is on in the upcoming 2024 elections ...
It might help understanding if he provided the text of his last post.
Stories like this are the reason why I would never rely on a “social media” platform for my business.
FB removed some of my very benign content without telling me what it was. Hard to contest it if I don’t know what I did.
Yes. And let's hear X's side of this before jumping to a conclusion.
There seems to be more to the story.
https://x.com/search?q=Bob%20Lonsberry&t=sYGrXgLqvN1z6d_0JCYbLw&s=09
He may not even have it. I never kept copies of the few tweets I have made in years past, and if my account were disappered, they would be gone into the ether. Maybe if it were my business, I would have archived everything.
What took you so long? I was banned for life, twice, and I didn’t even do nothing.
It’s all about access, “they “ control the access, they then control the message and can heavily influence outcomes. Social media is a cancer on this world.
So you’re banned for two lives now? Like two consecutive life sentences in a trial?
Happened to me too.
You were banned by the government. You should bring it to court as such. Twitter is clearly listening to government officals. And they told twitter to ban you so twitter did. The fact that they did not tell you a reason is to hide their modus operandi. They can’s say, because the government said so. So they don’t say anything. Which is to say that they can because they are a private company. But we know they are not a private company they are a GSE. Just ask Bobby Kennedy. The media is off limits to him. He should sue. And maybe some day he will. Twitter is state media as are most other media.
Bingo
Ha ha, the author should be banned because he won’t shut up and get to the point.
“I’ll probably never know.”
~~~~
I’ve seen people act innocent way too many times to buy that. I’ll bet they have their (strong) suspicions what they did to cause it.
Yes, twitter, and a lot of the social media don’t give specifics when they ban people much of the time, but the people who get banned, usually know why. Either they are a serial troll, and they don’t know the exact post that caused it (but they do know their behavior did generally), or they are someone like this author, who probably knew when they typed it that it could be controversial, but did so anyway.
On the other hand, I do think these silicon valley scourges on our society could do a better job of informing people why they get banned. In fact I know they can. Back when I used to write social media software back in the early 2000s, I gave my moderators tools for doing so. When they banned something, or even when they deleted content for violating rules, I provided them a drop down menu with a handful of reasons (rules) to select from when executing their action. This information was saved in the database along with the user or the content that the action was associated with. NOT HARD TO DO. But I think these companies intentionally keep people in the dark because they think it protects them from legal action. The more information you give the complainant, they more specific they can create grounds for grievance.
Which is why the so-called victims in situations like this whine and cry about not being given specifics. They want a point of contention, like a red-faced, angry college football coach why is yelling at the refs “What was the foul?!?!?” They are ready to protest before they even know what the infraction even was.
I was banned for telling the truth about the democrat party
Bob should write to Elon. It could be that its just some individual scumbag misusing his power.
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