White supremacist sues Twitter for allegedly violating his right to free speech

A white supremacist is suing Twitter for allegedly violating his right to free speech.

Jared Taylor, the creator of white supremacist website American Renaissance, has filed suit against the social media company for kicking him off the platform late last year. In the suit, attorneys for Mr Taylor argue that the company banned his account “based solely on his controversial viewpoints and perceived affiliations,” causing “irreparable harm” to the writer and his business.

“Mr Taylor and American Renaissance were targeted for permanent suspension from Twitter due to nothing more than their controversial views on race and immigration – the subjective perception that they are ‘racist’ and ‘extremist'," the lawsuit states.

Twitter’s actions, it adds, “threaten the free speech of all users on its platform”.

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment, saying the company does not discuss individual cases for privacy and security reasons.

News of the lawsuit comes as other far-right and white supremacist users claimed they, too, were being kicked off of the platform, spurring the hashtag #TwitterLockout.

Mr Taylor’s account was banned in December, when Twitter enacted new policies on “violent extremist groups” in response to complaints about white supremacist and neo-Nazi views being espoused on the platform.

The writer claims that when he enquired with Twitter about his account being removed, the company told him that he had violated the Terms of Service, "specifically the Twitter Rules against being affiliated with a violent extremist group”.

Mr Taylor has denied being a racist or white supremacist, but defines himself as a “race realist” and “advocate for white interests”. He has previously argued on American Renaissance that “when blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western civilization – any kind of civilization – disappears."

In his lawsuit, however, Mr Taylors claims that he has never advocated for violence, citing a Southern Poverty Law Centre report that says he “projects himself as a courtly presenter of ideas” and that American Renaissance “scrupulously avoid[s] racial epithets”.

The report, which Mr Taylor does not cite in full, also notes that American Renaissance conferences “have attracted a broad spectrum of the participants from the racist right, including neo-Nazis, white supremacists, Holocaust deniers and eugenicists”.

Twitter has struggled in recent years with how to combat hate speech on its platform without curtailing free speech rights. The roll-out of the news rules in December was heralded by some as progress, while others claimed they were unfairly targeted by the crackdown.

In the same week Mr Taylor filed his suit, other far-right users claimed they had been temporarily locked out of their accounts. Others claimed their followers had been “purged” overnight, as Twitter shut down sympathetic accounts.

"I've lost close to 1,000 followers offer the past few hours," prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer tweeted. "Major purge underway."

The problem appears to have stemmed from Twitter’s attempt to reduce the number of fake accounts and bots on the site.

The company said in a statement that it was working to remove malicious and fake accounts from its service. This process included asking users to confirm a phone number for the account so they can “confirm a human is behind it".

“Note that when an account is locked and being challenged to provide a phone number, it is removed from follower counts until it provides a phone number,” spokeswoman Emily Horne said. “This is part of our ongoing, comprehensive efforts to make Twitter safer and healthier for everyone.”

Twitter is grappling with the spread of fake and automated accounts on its site – some of which were used by Russian nationals to spread false information in the run-up to the 2016 election, according to a federal indictment. The company has removed more than 50,000 allegedly Russian-linked accounts since the election.