Technology

Twitter Apparently Blacked Out Anti-Abortion Movie’s Account During Opening Weekend

No featured image available

Conservatives and journalists criticized Twitter Sunday for allegedly suppressing the account of a movie fleshing out the story of a former abortion clinic director who became pro-life.

Celebrities and mainstream journalists dinged Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey after people on the platform noticed they were unable to follow an account associated with “Unplanned,” a rated R movie that depicts an abortion. Twitter temporarily suspended the account Saturday because the company mistakenly believed it was associated with a user who violated platform policy.

“Hey @jack – why aren’t you letting me follow @UnplannedMovie ? I’ve tried eight times to support my friend @AbbyJohnson and @Twitter won’t let me. Others are having the same issue. Please correct this. Thank you,” actress Patricia Heaton said in a tweet Sunday night. She was not the only person to notice the unusual activity, which manifested itself when users attempted to follow the profile.

Hey @jack – why aren’t you letting me follow @UnplannedMovie ? I’ve tried eight times to support my friend @AbbyJohnson and @Twitter won’t let me. Others are having the same issue. Please correct this. Thank you.

— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) April 1, 2019

Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, weighed in as well. “What is going on @jack? This is outrageous,” he said in a tweet Sunday, which included a video of Grenell attempting to follow the account only to notice that his action never registered after refreshing his browser. The account wavered between 35,000 followers and 121,000 followers throughout the weekend. 

What is going on @jack? This is outrageous. pic.twitter.com/bPOkZ6JbOi

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) April 1, 2019

Fox News journalist Shannon Bream mentioned the phenomena in a Twitter thread Sunday. “Seems to be retaining followers now,” she said in one tweet, noting how the account’s list of follower wavered throughout the day. “At one point I saw them at well over 120k. Now around 29k. Will check again in the am. Night, All!”

Kept reading the tweets about people following @UnplannedMovie – then immediately checking and seeing they are no longer following. Tried for myself, same experience multiple times. What’s the explanation? @jack

— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) April 1, 2019

Unplanned Suspended Without Explanation Saturday Morning

Live Action founder Lila Rose suggested Saturday that her group and “Unplanned” face censorship because of their pro-life views.

“Twitter just suspended @UnplannedMovie during the weekend of its theatrical release.@jack why are they suspended?” Rose tweeted. “You’ve banned both my & @LiveAction account from all promotions simply bc we’re pro-life. Have you banned this account because it challenges your pro-abortion bias?”

Twitter was criticized recently for dinging various conservative content on the platform. The company announced in February that it would begin punishing users who tweeted the phrase “learn to code” as part of targeted harassment campaigns.

Twitter has not yet responded to The Daily Caller News Foundation request for an explanation for why users were unable to follow the “Unplanned.”