Twitter Suspends Account Of British Far-Right Leader Who Trump Retweeted

The Twitter account of the head of the British far-right group called Britain First has been suspended recently due to the social media’s ongoing fight against hateful content. President Trump actually retweeted posts from the account last month, which featured anti-Muslim speech. These Tweets have since disappeared, as well.

The leader, in question, is Paul Golding and both he and his deputy, Jayda Fransen can no longer use their official Twitter accounts. The Twitter page of Britain First has also been suspended due to its promotion of hateful rhetoric, the BBC reports. This suspension comes at a time when Twitter is trying to combat hate speech on its platform, which is notorious for allowing trolls to thrive.

When President Trump retweeted three Tweets from the account featuring hateful content in November, it proved extremely controversial. British Prime Minister Theresa May’s office had spoken out about the act that also garnered widespread criticism among U.S. leaders. It’s also worth noting that both Golding and Fransen have been arrested recently for stirring up hatred with regards to Northern Ireland.

In any case, the matter of their Twitter account suspension follows the announcement that the social media company had made in October, which involved taking tougher measures regarding symbols of hatred. These included the swastika, which is often used to represent Nazi ideologies, which happen to include white supremacy.

As expected, far-right groups have criticized the new measures, accusing Twitter of trampling on their right to free speech. Some have even said that the microblogging company was attempting to “purge” them, The Washington Post reports.

More Twitter accounts that are affiliated with or are officially used by hate groups were suspended as well. In the U.S., the official account of the group called American Renaissance was taken down. American Renaissance has been branded as an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center.