Numerous Twitter 'Alt-Right' Accounts Were Suspended, But Which Ones?

On the same day Twitter introduced new steps to curb online abuse, the company removed numerous alt-right accounts, USA Today reported Tuesday evening.

One of the more prominent users Twitter suspended the account of Richard Spencer, who leads the National Policy Institute (NPI). His independent organization was launched in 2005 and is “dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States,” according to its website. Spencer has previously said he wants blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Jews ejected from the country.

The accounts for NPI, Spencer’s publishing company Washington Summit Publishers and his magazine Radix Journal were also banned.

“This is corporate Stalinism,” Spencer told The Daily Caller. “Twitter is trying to airbrush the Alt Right out of existence. They’re clearly afraid. They will fail!”

Names Of Alt-Right Accounts Were Suspended?

Other accounts of alt-right Twitter users that were suspended included Paul Town, Pax Dickinson, who was the former chief-technology officer at Business Insider, Ricky Vaughn and John Rivers.

Dickinson has previously made homophobic, racist and misogynistic comments on Twitter. He was forced to resign from his position at Business Insider after his tweets were discovered.

Vaughn, an anonymous Twitter personality, has said “we need racial separatism in order to maintain our unique culture and racial heritage” and has made it clear that he opposes interracial marriages.

This isn’t the first time Twitter has banned a prominent “alt-right” users after allegations of abuse. Vaughn was banned in October, which triggered the hashtag #FreeRicky. In July, the company suspended the account of Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor at the conservative news website Breitbart, after he attacked Ghostbusters actress and SNL star Leslie Jones on Twitter calling her “barely literate.”

The hostile election between Hillary Clinton and President-elect Donald Trump appears to have contributed to the tension and abuse on social media.

“The amount of abuse, bullying, and harassment we've seen across the Internet has risen sharply over the past few years. These behaviors inhibit people from participating on Twitter, or anywhere,” said Twitter in a statement. “Abusive conduct removes the chance to see and share all perspectives around an issue, which we believe is critical to moving us all forward.”