Twitter Suspends Anti-Extremist Accounts After They're Flagged By ... Extremists: Report

Twitter said Friday that it mistakenly suspended accounts that were flagged in a coordinated and malicious attack by white supremacists and other far-right groups targeting journalists and accounts tracking extremists, The Washington Post reported .

Twitter instituted a new rule earlier this week allowing people to report accounts that post photos or videos of them without permission , which the company said was intended to increase privacy protections.

Extremist groups urged members to take advantage of the rule and report accounts used to identify and track neo-Nazis, other extremists and hate rallies, the Post reported Thursday. Things now unexpectedly work more in our favor, crowed one Nazi sympathizer in a tweet, the Post noted .

Its going to be emboldening to the fascists, Gwen Snyder, an anti-fascist researcher and organizer in Philadelphia, told the Post. Her account was one of those temporarily suspended for posting a photo of a Proud Boys rally.

Under its new \"privacy\" policy, Twitter locked me out of my account for a May 2019 thread documenting a public Proud Boys rally attended by the GOP Philly mayoral candidate & Capitol riot defendant Zach Rehl.

The same Proud Boys who vandalized my home & threatened my family. pic.twitter.com/NMxZxFyaKS

Gwen Snyder is uncivil (@gwensnyderPHL) December 2, 2021","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Gwen Snyder is uncivil","author_url":"https://twitter.com/gwensnyderPHL","cache_age":86400,"description":"Under its new \"privacy\" policy, Twitter locked me out of my account for a May 2019 thread documenting a public Proud Boys rally attended by the GOP Philly mayoral candidate & Capitol riot defendant Zach Rehl.The same Proud Boys who vandalized my home & threatened my family. pic.twitter.com/NMxZxFyaKS Gwen Snyder is uncivil (@gwensnyderPHL) December 2, 2021\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":2048,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFnqHPoXIAMM27p.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":922,"title":"Gwen Snyder is uncivil on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/gwensnyderPHL/status/1466460566290145284","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"61aaeff2e4b0451e55161650","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/twitter-suspensions-far-right-attack-privacy-rule_n_61aaeff2e4b0451e55161650","entryTagsList":"twitter,extremism","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/6ee649e5-43d9-4962-86b0-5e743fb2ca8a/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":5},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"61aaeff2e4b0451e55161650","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Twitter","slug":"twitter","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/twitter","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/twitter","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/twitter"},"department":{"name":"Life","slug":"lifestyle"},"section":{"title":"Tech","slug":"technology"},"topic":{"title":"Twitter","slug":"twitter","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/life/topic/twitter"},{"name":"extremism","slug":"extremism","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/extremism","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/extremism","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/extremism"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Extremism","slug":"extremism","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/extremism"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

Under its new "privacy" policy, Twitter locked me out of my account for a May 2019 thread documenting a public Proud Boys rally attended by the GOP Philly mayoral candidate & Capitol riot defendant Zach Rehl.

The same Proud Boys who vandalized my home & threatened my family. pic.twitter.com/NMxZxFyaKS
Gwen Snyder is uncivil (@gwensnyderPHL) December 2, 2021

Twitter spokesman Trenton Kennedy told the Post that the company was overwhelmed with a significant amount of malicious reports, and that its enforcement teams made several errors in their response.

Kennedy didnt reveal the number of baseless reports, but said there were dozens of erroneous suspensions.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Twitter claims the new rule is intended to prevent the misuse of media to harass or intimidate private individuals. Exceptions can be made in cases where shared photos or videos are shared in the public interest.

Some pointed out that such a crackdown would have seriously inhibited the amateur sleuthing that helped identify Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.

It was unclear as of Friday night if the suspended accounts were all back online. Some users said their accounts that track extremists remained suspended Friday, the Post noted.