The Twitter account of Britain First’s Jayda Fransen was suspended in what has been dubbed the “Twitter purge.”
The leader and deputy leader of far-right organisation Britain First have been banned from Twitter as the social media company begins to enforce new rules.
One rule regarding violence takes into account Twitter users’ activity offline, forbidding users from affiliating with organisations that promote violence against civilians either on or off the site.
Britain First leader Paul Golding, 35, and deputy leader Jayda Fransen, 31, are both facing charges in Belfast.
In a company blog announcing Twitter’s enforcement of new rules, the company said it would take action against “accounts that affiliate with organisations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their causes”.
It added: “Groups included in this policy will be those that identify as such or engage in activity – both on and off the platform – that promotes violence.
“This policy does not apply to military or government entities and we will consider exceptions for groups that are currently engaging in (or have engaged in) peaceful resolution.”
Twitter has been reviewing its policies in recent weeks following repeated criticism over how it handles abusive content.
Last month, the site paused its verification process, and also removed verified ‘blue tick’ badges from right-wing figures, including former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson.
It came following criticism for verifying the account of Jason Kessler, a prominent alt-right figure in the US who organised a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Twitter said the verified badge was never meant as a sign of endorsement, and the company’s boss Jack Dorsey described the process as “broken”.
Twitter was also recently accused of failing to act on anti-Muslim videos retweeted by US President Donald Trump after the incident made global headlines.
The site was forced to clarify its position after it initially appeared to suggest the videos, retweeted by Mr Trump from the account of Fransen, were not removed because they stoked debate.
Mr Dorsey said the site had “mistakenly pointed to the wrong reason” the videos remained online, with the company adding its current media policy had not been violated, but would “continue to re-evaluate and examine our policies as the world around us evolves”.
