Twitter Unveils New Speech Restrictions On 'Religion,' Locks Louis Farrakhan's Account Over 'Anti-Termite' Tweet

We create our rules to keep people safe on Twitter, and they continuously evolve to reflect the realities of the world we operate within. Our primary focus is on addressing the risks of offline harm, and research* shows that dehumanizing language increases that risk. As a result, after months of conversations and feedback from the public, external experts and our own teams, we’re expanding our rules against hateful conduct to include language that dehumanizes others on the basis of religion.

Starting today, we will require Tweets like these to be removed from Twitter when they’re reported to us:



If reported, Tweets that break this rule sent before today will need to be deleted, but will not directly result in any account suspensions because they were Tweeted before the rule was set.

This is a blatant attack on The Honorable Minister @LouisFarrakhan. Who is pressuring @jack @Twitter @TwitterSafety?? #Farrakhan #WeAreFarrakhan

Twitter freezes Louis Farrakhan’s twitter account, hides tweet it says he must deletehttps://t.co/3SK8HJVQgz

— Team Farrakhan (@TeamFarrakhan) July 9, 2019

Those who reported @LouisFarrakhan #Twitter account for hate speech are receiving this message from @Twitter. pic.twitter.com/z50hH8OpCS

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) July 9, 2019

A reminder that @LouisFarrakhan tweeted out a video of himself saying “I’m not anti-Semite. I’m anti-termite.” just a couple weeks ago.pic.twitter.com/IUKB4PapmK

— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) November 5, 2018

The fact that language dehumanizing others on the basis of religion only now violates Twitter's rules shows how far they have to go to truly combat hate. We urge them to be transparent about the efficacy of these changes. Our full statement below. https://t.co/Hu0dui1HWj pic.twitter.com/cVZbRH7Pqa

— ADL (@ADL) July 9, 2019