Twitter’s role as a social tool of communication and expression is undeniable, but controversy has always followed the platform throughout the years.
In this research, we analyzed the trend of Twitter suspensions over the years, examining statistics and data to get a clearer picture of the whole Twitter story.
Here are the most important stats about Twitter suspensions:
- Approximately 497,000 Twitter accounts were suspended between October 27 and November 1, 2022, after Elon Musk’s takeover of the company
- Between 2014 and 2016, Twitter began a “suspension campaign” against related and official ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), suspending 10,000 accounts in a single day
- Between mid-2015 and February 2015, Twitter suspended over 125,000 ISIL-related accounts
- Between July and December 2021, nearly 600,000 Twitter accounts were suspended for child exploitation
- Between 2012 and 2021, approximately 14 million Twitter accounts were suspended
- In 2019, over 7.8 million accounts were suspended
- In the wake of the Capitol riots in 2021, more than 70,000 accounts were suspended, including that of then-U.S. President Donald Trump
- Following Twitter’s takeover, Elon Musk reinstated the formerly suspended accounts of :
- Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene
- Psychologist Jordan Peterson
- Satire site Babylon Bee
- Comedian Kathy Griffin
- Kanye West
- Former President Donald Trump
- A report by the European Union said that Twitter removed less harmful content in 2022 compared to 2021
- In Twitter’s history, there were four very notable suspension-related incidents:
- Actress Rose McGowan’s temporary 12-hour suspension after she tweeted about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged s3xual misconduct. Following her suspension, the “#WomenBoycottTwitter” movement gained traction
- The “Fake Followers Purge” of 2018 when Twitter suspended a substantial number of users deemed fake follower accounts. This was partly influenced by the 2016 US elections when Russian trolls (fake follower accounts) started an interference campaign in the elections
- Former President Donald Trump’s temporary and permanent ban following the 2021 US Capitol attack
- The temporary suspension of journalists in 2022 after Elon Musk, Twitter’s new CEO, claimed that the journalists had “doxxed” his exact real-time location. Later, it was reported that the reporters had not reported his real-time location
Below, we’ll go over the last 7 Transparency Reports from Twitter, a yearly examination of suspension numbers, and the most notable suspensions over time.
Twitter Transparency Reports On Account Suspensions
Twitter published its first Transparency Report in 2012 and today, there are 20 such reports published. Each transparency Report covers a 6-month period, with two reports published per year.
Currently, only Transparency Reports 14 through 20 (July 2018 to December 2021) are publicly available on Twitter.
Reason for acc. suspension/content removal | Jul – Dec 2018 | Jan – Jun 2019 | Jul – Dec 2019 | Jan – Jun 2020 | Jul – Dec 2020 | Jan – Jun 2021 | Jul – Dec 2021 |
Child Exploitation | 456,989 acc. suspended | 244,188 acc. suspended | 256,768 acc. suspended | 438,809 acc. suspended | 464,804 acc. suspended | 453,754 acc. suspended | 596,997 acc. suspended |
Terrorism Promotion | 166,513 acc. suspended | 115,861 acc. suspended | 86,799 acc. suspended | 90,684 acc. suspended | 58,750 acc. suspended | 44,974 acc. suspended | 33,693 acc. suspended |
Change in Abuse/Harassment actioned accounts | +22% | +95% | -34% | +142% | +8% | -10% | |
Change in Violence actioned accounts | -5% | -48% | +106% | +82% | -31% | ||
Change in Hateful Conduct actioned accounts | +48% | +54% | -35% | +77% | -2% | -19% | |
Change in Promoting suicide or self-harm actioned accounts | +29% | -49% | +192% | +83% | +18% | ||
Change in Sensitive media actioned accounts | +37% | +39% | +15% | +322% | +131% | -30% | |
Change in Illegal Goods or Services actioned accounts | 60,807 accounts actioned | -7% | +83% | +70% | -28% | ||
Change in Private Information actioned accounts | +119% | +41% | +14% | +67% | -28% | +11% | |
Change in Non-consensual Nudity actioned accounts | +109% | -48% | +194% | +9% | -3% | ||
Change in Civic Integrity actioned accounts | +32% | +37% | +175% | -91% | -84% | ||
Change in Impersonation actioned accounts | 124,339 accounts suspended | +31% | -28% | +8% | +54% | -16% (169,396 accounts suspended) | |
Change in Healthcare Misleading Information actioned accounts | 4,658 accounts | -27% | +722% | -14% (1,376 accounts suspended) | |||
Change in accounts actioned (suspended or removed content) | +105% | +47% | -16% | +82% | +36% | -12% | |
Change in content removed | +50% | -33% | +132% | +32% | -14% | ||
Change in suspended accounts | +27% | +6% | +9% | +23% | +2% |
Over the years, there’s been a stark decrease in the suspension of terrorist-related accounts on Twitter (due to the lower number of such accounts), while the opposite was true for child exploitation-related accounts.
Number of Suspensions Per Year
Twitter suspended over 14 million accounts between 2012 and 2021 but let’s take a look at a year-by-year comparison in terms of account suspensions:
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
<2,500 suspended accounts | <2,500 suspended accounts | <2,500 suspended accounts | <2,500 suspended accounts | 5,000 suspended accounts | Close to 7,500 accounts suspended | 1.5 million suspended accounts | 7.8 million suspended accounts | 1.9 million suspended accounts | 2.5 million suspended accounts |
As you can see, the number of suspended accounts suffered a drastic uptick in 2019 when Twitter began a campaign against misinformation, platform manipulation, and content that violated its community guidelines.
Notable Suspensions Per Year
It’s time to take a look at some of Twitter’s most notable suspensions throughout the years. There are some interesting cases you’ll like!
This list will be updated with new entries whenever Twitter permanently bans another notable account.
2010 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
Operation Payback (@Anon_Operation) | Anonymous hacktivist campaign that supported online piracy and WikiLeaks | 8 December 2010 | Coordinated DDoS attacks against Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal |
2011 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
Courtney Love (@CourtneyLoveUK) | American actress and musician | 7 January 2011 | Fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir filed a defamation suit against Courtney Love over tweets she had made on 17 March 2019 |
Anders Behring Breivik (@AndersBBreivik) | Norwegian far-right terrorist responsible for the 20122 Norway attacks | 31 July 2011 | The Norwegian far-right terrorist’s Twitter account was hacked by Anonymous who claimed they’d delete it, prompting Twitter to suspend it permanently |
2012 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
BILL NYE THO (@Bill_Nye_tho) | Parody account | 19 September 2012 | Impersonated a public figure |
Keemstar (@DJKEEMSTAR) | American YouTuber | 10 October 2012 | Unknown |
2013 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
HSM Press Office (@HSMPress) | Al-Shabaab (militant group based in Somalia) account | 25 January 2013 | Made a public death threat against the Kenyan hostages to blackmail the Kenyan government to meet its demands |
HSMPress (@HSMPRESS1) | Al-Shabaab (militant group based in Somalia) account | 5 September 2013 | Threatened to kill the Somali president |
HSM Press (@HSM_Press) | Al-Shabaab (militant group based in Somalia) account | 21 September 2013 | Broadcasted their plans about the Westgate shopping mall attack |
شبكة شموخ الإسلام (@shomokhalislam) | Al-Qaeda account | 29 September 2013 | The first official account of Al-Qaeda |
Pace Picante (@Pace_Foods) | Spoof account | 2 December 2013 | Prank account made by comedian Randy Liedtke who pretended to be a Pace Picante employee named “Miles” and started messaging Kyle Kinane |
@Anon_Central and 30 other accounts | Hacktivist accounts | 3 December 2013 | Aiming misogynist abuse at feminist campaigners |
2014 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades | A military wing of Hamas | 11 January 2014 | Connected to the Hamas terrorist organization as classified by the US |
2015 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson, @GotNewsDotCom, @CitizenTrolling) | American alt-right blogger | 24 May 2015 | Violated Twitter’s rule of “participating in targeted abuse” after tweeting about “taking out” the civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson |
@Jalibib Al-Jazrawi (@s_2f) | ISIL member | 19 July 2015 | Made a death threat against Nasser Al Qasabi, a Saudi Arabian actor |
Jared Fogle (@thejaredfogle) | Subway spokesman | 21 August 2015 | Found guilty of performing indecent acts on minors, possessing child exploitation related material, and soliciting minors online |
George Zimmerman (@TherealGeorgeZ) | American individual responsible for killing Trayvon Martin | 3 December 2015 | Tweeted confidential information (including revenge p*rn) about an ex-girlfriend |
2016 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) | American conservative writer | 25 February 2016 | Participated in targeted abuse |
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades | A military wing of Hamas | March 2016 | Hamas’ alternate account that the organization created after Twitter suspended another of its accounts |
Abu Obeida | Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson | 15 April 2016 | Hamas’ alternate account that the organization created after Twitter suspended another of its accounts |
Azealia Banks (@AZEALIABANKS) | American rapper | 12 May 2016 | Made homophobic and racist remarks toward Zayn Malik |
Milo Yiannopoulos (@nero) | British alt-right political commentator and polemicist | 19 July 2016 | Insulted Leslie Jones, an action that coincided with a racist harassment campaign |
Accounts of Radix Journal, National Policy Institute, John Rivers, Ricky Vaughn, and others | Alt-right accounts | 17 November 2016 | Banned after violating Twitter’s policy that prohibited the “inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others“ |
Tila Tequila (@AngelTilaLove) | American social media personality | 22 November 2016 | Made Neo-Nazi posts, which included a photo of herself and others making a Nazi salute during a National Policy Institute event |
John Rivello (@jew_goldstein) | Maryland Trump supporter | December 2016 | Sent an epileptogenic GIF to a journalist suffering from epilepsy, Kurt Eichenwald |
2017 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
Martin Shkreli (@martinshkreli) | American hedge fund manager | 7 January 2017 | Harassed journalist Lauren Duca |
Daniel Sieradski (@selfagency) | American activist and writer | 8 June 2017 | Official reason is unknown but Sieradski claims he was suspended for threatening Baked Alaska or publicly arguing with Courtney Love |
Anthony Cumia (@AnthonyCumia) | American broadcaster and radio personality | 11 July 2017 | Made a transphobic comment against “The A.V. Club” writer Katie Rife. Multiple accounts belonging to Anthony Cumia were later suspended |
Sargon of Akkad (@Sargon_of_Akkad) | Alt-right activist | 9 August 2017 | Unknown |
@nemusismywife | Japanese man | 30 August 2017 | Made a death threat toward a dead mosquito |
@themoodforluv | American woman | 7 September 2017 | Harassed Taylor Swift |
Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) | American conservative lobbyist and conservative political consultant | 29 October 2017 | Harassed CNN journalists |
Kamaal Rashid Khan | Indian film critic and actor | 30 October 2017 | Unknown |
Andrew Tate (@cobratate) | Men’s rights activist | 31 October 2017 | Said that rape victims “bear some responsibility” for putting themselves in situations that led to the assaults |
2,752 Russian troll accounts | Russian troll accounts | 1 November 2017 | Accounts were linked to the Internet Research Agency belonging to Russia |
Jenna Abrams (@Jenn_Abrams) | Alt-right blogger | 2 November 2017 | Account was discovered to be a fictitious person that was operated by a Russian troll factory |
Baked Alaska (@bakedalaska) | Alt-right activist | 15 November 2017 | Posted a photoshopped image of Laura Loomer inside a gas chamber and repeated degrading content (racist and s3xist tropes, non-consensual slurs, epithets) |
Pakistan Defence Forum (@defencepk) | Forum for discussing the Pakistani’s armed forces | 19 November 2017 | Posting a doctored photo and fake news |
Wael Abbas (@waelabbas) | An Egyptian human rights activist, journalist, and blogger | 15 December 2017 | Unknown |
Paul Golding (@GoldingBF) | Leader of the Britain First fascist group | 18 December 2017 | Became affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their cause” that posted videos containing misleading captions that attributed violence to Muslims |
Jayda Fransen (@JaydaBF) | Deputy leader of the Britain First fascist group | 18 December 2017 | Became affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their cause” that posted videos containing misleading captions that attributed violence to Muslims |
Nordic Resistance Movement (@nordicfrontier) | Nordic white nationalist organization | 18 December 2017 | Became affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their cause“ |
Jared Taylor (@jartaylor) and American Renaissance | American white nationalist | 18 December 2017 | Became affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their cause“ |
Michael Hill (@MickCollins1951) and League of the South | American white nationalist | 18 December 2017 | Became affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their cause“ |
Traditionalist Worker Party | American white nationalist | 18 December 2017 | Became affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their cause“ |
American Nazi Party | American nazis | 18 December 2017 | Became affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their cause“ |
f*ck every word (@f*ckeveryword) | Twitter bot | 20 December 2017 | Tweeted “f*ck ni**ers“ |
James Allsup (@realJamesAllsup) | Far-right political commentator | 26 December 2017 | Unknown |
Tyler Barriss (@SWAuTistic) | A suspect in the 2017 Wichita swatting incident | 30 December 2017 | Arrested by the Los Angeles police for being a suspected “swatter” who faked a 911 call that ended in a police officer killing an innocent man in Wichita, Kansas |
2018 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
Golden Dawn | Greek ultranationalist party | 5 January 2018 | Hateful conduct and incitement to violence |
Paul Nehlen (@pnehlen) | Congressional candidate who challenged Speaker Paul Ryan in the Republican primary | 13 February 2018 | Posted a racist tweet about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex |
Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonNewEra) | British nationalist | 28 March 2018 | Engaged in hateful conduct |
Craig R. Brittain (@SenatorBrittain) | Republican US Senate candidate in Arizona, also the former operator of a “revenge p*rn” website | 30 March 2018 | Suggested that the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting had been paid by gun control groups |
Owen Benjamin (@OwenBenjamin) | American comedian | 5 April 2018 | Made offensive tweets about David Hogg |
Sabo (@UnsavoryAgents) | American street artist | 13 April 2018 | Unknown |
Mike Enoch (@mikeenochsback) | White nationalist | 16 April 2018 | Engaged in hateful conduct |
Masao Shiro (@mr_beck36) | Manga artist | 8 June 2018 | Used an anti-Japanese slur while suggesting an anime adaption of “Takewondoer Park“, one of his manga |
@EricHartleyFrnd | Account that was used by Jarrod Ramos | 28 June 2018 | Arrested after killing five employees of “The Capital” during the mass shooting |
“Darren Mills” | Russian troll account | 4 July 2018 | Discovered to be a fictitious person operated by a Russian troll factory |
70 million troll, automated, and fake accounts | Troll, automated, and fake accounts | 6 July 2018 | Malicious activity |
Guccifer 2.0 (@GUCCIFER_2) | Russian-linked account | 14 July 2018 | Found to be tied to a network of accounts that were previously suspended on Twitter |
DCLeaks (@dcleaks) | Russian-linked account | 14 July 2018 | Found to be tied to a network of accounts that were previously suspended on Twitter |
Peter van Buren (@WeMeantWell) | Writer and Former United States Foreign Service employee | 5 August 2018 | Harassed Jonathan M. Katz |
Proud Boys (@ProudBoysUSA) | North American neo-fascist organization | 11 August 2018 | Violated Twitter’s policy about violent extremist groups |
Gavin McInnes (@Gavin_McInnes) | Founder of the Proud Boys, a North American neo-fascist organization | 11 August 2018 | Violated Twitter’s policy about violent extremist groups |
Talbert W. Swan II | American prelate of the Church of God in Christ | 22 August 2018 | Engaged in hateful conduct, possibly tied to his appellation of Candace Owens as a “coon“ |
Becky Lucas | Australian comedian | September 2018 | Posted “content that was threatening and/or promoting violence” after she tweeted (jokingly) “Oi @ScottMorrisonMP I’m gonna chop your f*cking head off“ |
InfoWars (@infowars) | American conspiracy website | 6 September 2018 | Engaged in abusive behavior |
Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) | Founder of Info Wars, a conspiracy website | 6 September 2018 | Engaged in abusive behavior |
@CongressEdits | Twitter bot | 3 October 2018 | Rebroadcasted Wikipedia edits that doxxed members of Congress |
Dozens of Occupy movement activists | Occupy movement activists | 11 October 2018 | No official reason |
@Infowars_Eu @InfowarsArmy @InfowarsCrew @InfowarsInsider @InfowarsMag @InfowarsPapers @InfowarsReports @InfowarsShop @PrisonPlanetTV @RealInfoStore @RealNewsX2 @TheNewsWars @WarRoomMemes @WarRoomShow 4 other accounts | Accounts that were affiliated with InfoWars and Alex Jones | 22 October 2022 | Being tied to InfoWars and Alex Jones |
@hardrock2016 @hardrockintlet | Accounts that were used by Cesar Sayoc | 26 October 2018 | Made mail bombing attempts against Donald Trump critics and various Democratic Party politicians, and posted far-right political conspiracy theories, specific threats, and graphic images |
Smash Racism D.C. (@SmashRacismDC) | Antifa group from Washington, D.C. | 7 November 2018 | Posted the home address of Tucker Carlson and other of his family members after a protest outside his home |
Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) | Canadian journalist | 15 November 2018 | Engaged in hateful conduct after a heated exchange that involved the misgendering of a transgender woman |
Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) | American internet personality, political activist, and conspiracy theorist | 22 November 2018 | Engaged in hateful conduct and accused Ilhan Omar of being “pro-FGM” and “pro-Sharia“ |
@putinRF_eng | Impostor account | 26 November 2018 | Impersonated Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russian officials made a complaint to Twitter |
Amos Yee (TheAmosYee) | Singaporean blogger | 10 December 2018 | Supported pedophilia |
2019 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
Stephanie Sargnagel | Austrian artist and author | 31 January 2019 | Posted a tweet that translates to “Austria, you stupid son of a bitch, I am going to kill you“ |
Jacob Wohl (@JacobAWohl) | American hoaxer, fraudster, and conspiracy theorist | 26 February 2019 | Created and operated fake accounts after he boasted about intending to manipulate the 2020 US presidential election results |
Brenton Tarrant (@BrentonTarrant) | Responsible for the Christchurch mosque shootings | 15 March 2019 | Posted pictures of the guns he later used during the attacks |
Carl Benjamin (@CarlUKIP) and Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonMEP) | UKIP accounts | 26 April 2019 | Violated Twitter’s Terms of Service |
Min Aung Hlain (@SGMinAungHlaing) | Commander-in-Chef of Tatmadaw | 16 May 2019 | Unknown |
Nebojša Krstić (@Krle22) | Serbian punding who was aligned with the Serbian Progressive Party | 17 May 2019 | Harassed the “Vreme” journalist Jovana Gligorijević |
Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) and Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) | Resistance Twitter activists | 23 May 2019 | Operated fake accounts |
Eoin Lenihan (@EoinLenihan) | Educator and researchers | 29 May 2019 | Abusing multiple accounts |
Luke Taylor (@luketaylorjail) | Internet troll | 8 July 2019 | Engaged in sustained harassment of the Planters snack food mascot, Mr. Peanut |
Lindsay Shepherd | Free-speech activist | 16 July 2019 | Engaged in hateful contact after a heated exchange with a transgender woman and LGBTQ advocate from Vancouver |
Connor Stephen Betts (@iamthespookster) | Person responsible for the 2019 Dayton shooting | 4 August 2019 | Person responsible for the 2019 Dayton shooting |
Patrick Wood Crusius (@PatrickCrusius) | Person responsible for the 2019 El Paso shooting | 4 August 2019 | Person responsible for the 2019 El Paso shooting |
200,000 Chinese accounts | Chinese accounts | 19 August 2019 | Accounts were part of a Chinese government influence campaign that targeted the protest movement in Hong Kong |
Raúl Castro (@RaulCastroR) | Cuban government-affiliated account | 12 September 2019 | Unspecified |
Saud al-Qahtani (@saudq1978) | Former media consultant to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman | 20 September 2019 | Violated the company’s “platform manipulation” policies |
DotDev.ae | The operator of bot accounts in the United Arab Emirates | 20 September 2019 | Spread information about the Saudi Arabian and Qatar-led intervention in Yemen |
Hezbollah and Hamas-affiliated accounts, including Quds News Network and Al-Manar | Terrorist organizations | 1 November 2019 | Part of Twitter’s actions against “illegal terrorist organizations and violent extremist groups“ |
Danielle Stella (@2020MNCongress) | Republican candidate that potentially challenged the US Representative Ilhan Omar in the 2020 election | 27 November 2019 | Violated several rules repeatedly and tweeted “If it is proven @IlhanMN passed sensitive info to Iran, she should be tried for #treason and hanged.“ |
88,000 Saudi-linked accounts | Saudi-linked accounts | 20 December 2019 | Several state-backed information operations that originated in Saudi Arabia had “violated platform manipulation policies“ |
2020 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
Zero Hedge (@zerohedge) | Far-right libertarian financial blog | 31 January 2020 | Falsely accused a doctor belonging to the Wuhan Institute of Virology of releasing SARS-CoV-2 as a biological weapons, doxxing the doctor in an article. |
@BabyNutBaby, @BabyNutLOL, @BabyNutMemes | Planters-related meme accounts | 3 February 2020 | Engaged in astroturfing to support the “Baby Nut” campaign. |
70 pro-Michael Bloomberg accounts | Accounts promoting Michael Bloomberg | 21 February 2020 | Engaged in “platform manipulation” by posting identical messages which Twitter identified as spam |
Andrew Walz (@WalzRI) | Fake Republican candidate account | 28 February 2020 | Impersonated a Republican running for Congress in Rhode Island’s 1 congressional district and convinced Twitter to blue-check verify the account |
Jack Burkman (@Jack_Burkman) | Conspiracy theorist and lobbyist | 19 March 2020 | Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
8,558 pro-Serbian Progressive Party and pro-Aleksandar Vučić accounts | Progressive Party and pro-Aleksandar Vučić accounts | 2 April 2020 | Posted positive news that covered the Serbian Progressive Party and Aleksandar Vučić while attacking their political opponents. Twitter claimed that these accounts engaged in “inauthentic coordinated activity“ |
Owen Shroyer (@allidoisowen), Rob Dew (@DewsNewz), Banned.Video (@BANNEDdotVIDEO) | InfoWars personalities | 16 April 2020 | Promoted violence in a Texas rally against the stay-at-home order regarding the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
Alex (@alx) | Ambassador for Turning Point USA | 17 April 2020 | Violated Twitter’s manipulation and spam policy by sharing a meme of Xi Jinping which he generated by using Joe Biden’s avatar from his official website |
Joey Salads (@JoeySalads) | American conservative media personality | 12 May 2020 | Violated Twitter’s spam and manipulation policy |
@ANTIFA_US | Fake Antifa account | 2 June 2020 | Violated the policy on fake accounts and was a fake Antifa account |
170,000 Chinese accounts, 1,000 Russian accounts, and 7,340 Turkish accounts | Chinese, Russian, and Turkish accounts | 11 June 2020 | Found to engage in propaganda and disinformation on behalf of their respective governments |
Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) | Far-right activist and British columnist | 19 June 2020 | Violated the “hateful conduct” policy by expressing her opposition to a school program that provided meals to hungry children |
Logan Cook (@carpedonktum) | Pro-Trump meme account | 23 June 2020 | Repeatedly violated Twitter’s policies by posting an edited scene from the movie “Kingsman: The Secret Service” that depicted Trump killing politicians, journalists, and news outlets. On another occasion, he created a fake CNN “racist toddlers” video where two toddlers would hug and run away together. Twitter labeled this video as racist and took it down after the original content owner filed a copyright complaint |
Distributed Denial of Secrets (@DDoSecrets) | Activist Group | 23 June 2020 | Published BlueLeaks, a 269-GB file containing internal US law enforcement data that was obtained by Anonymous |
Graham Linehan (@Glinner) | Television writer | 27 June 2020 | Repeatedly engaged in platform manipulation and hateful conduct toward transgender people. He also tried to circumvent his ban |
Stefan Molyneux (@stefanmolyneux) | Conspiracy theorist and far-right activist | 7 July 2020 | Operated several fake accounts |
More than 50 accounts of white nationalist organizations from different countries | Accounts belonging to white nationalist organizations | 10 July 2020 | Violated Twitter’s policies regarding violent extremism |
Approximately 157,000 QAnon-related accounts | QAnon-related accounts | 21 July 2020 | Engaged in misinformation, harassment, and brigading of users (only 7,000 of those 157,000 accounts were permanently banned, while the rest were only temporarily banned) |
Talib Kweli | Rapper | 23 July 2020 | Engaged in harassment |
16 pro-Jair Bolsonaro accounts | Pro-Jair Bolsonaro accounts | 24 July 2020 | Allegedly promoted fake news, and the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil ordered these accounts to be taken down (including accounts of Sara Winter, Roberto Jefferson, Luciano Hang, and more) |
Wiley (@WileyCEO) | Musician | 25 July 2020 | Made antisemitic comments |
David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) | Former KKK Grand Wizard and White supremacist | 30 July 2020 | Posted hateful content |
Gemma O’Doherty (@gemmaod1) | Irish conspiracy theorist and far-right activist | 31 July 2020 | Repeatedly engaged in hateful conduct and abusive behavior |
Bull Mitchell (@mitchellvii) | Conservative pundit | 14 August 2020 | Tried to evade the suspension of his other account |
Guy Verhoftwat (@guyverhoftwat), Jarvis DuPont (@Jarvis DuPont), Journalist Excellence Worldwide (@journalistew), Liberal Larry (@larrydaliberal), Sir Lefty Farr-Wright (@supportourlefty), Tolerance Police (@diversitypatrol) | Political satire accounts | 17 August 2020 | Violated Twitter’s spam and manipulation policies |
3,000 Chinese accounts | Chinese accounts | 26 August 2020 | Accounts belonged to a Chinese botnet called “Dracula“ |
Unity 2020 (@ArticlesofUnity) | American political movement | 27 August 2020 | Account was considered “potentially harmful” by Twitter |
AlwaysActions (@AlwaysActions) | Conservative account | 10 September 2020 | Violated Twitter’s spam and manipulation policy after it repeatedly shared anti-Muslim, xenophobic, and hyper-partisan disinformation |
David Vance (@DVATW) | Right-wing blogger | 10 September 2020 | Posted hateful content by making repeated accusations of racism and harassing footballer Marcus Rashford |
Li-Meng Yan (@LiMengYAN119) | Chinese virologist | 15 September 2020 | Posted a link to an upload of an unpublished pre-print paper that claimed SARS-CoV-2 was made in a laboratory |
Remix News (@RMXnews) | Media publication supported by the Hungarian government | 30 September 2020 | Unknown |
Several accounts claiming to be black supporters of Donald Trump | Suspicious accounts claiming to support Donald Trump | 13 October 2020 | Violated Twitter’s policies on platform manipulation and spam |
Gayathri Raguram (@gayathriraguram) | Indian actress, politician, and choreographer | 26 October 2020 | Posted several tweets regarding the controversy over the statement of VCK leader Thol. Thrumavalavan on Manusmriti |
Ira Madison III (@ira) | Podcaster and writer | 2 November 2020 | Impersonated Beto O’Rourke |
DeAnna Lorraine (@DeAnna4Congress) | Former Republican candidate for the US House of Representatives | 3 November 2020 | Tweeted that “immigrants would enter the US and commit violence if Trump is not elected“ |
Several accounts claiming to be independent journalists | Accounts claiming to be independent journalists | 3 November 2020 | Violated Twitter’s policies on platform manipulation and spam |
David Icke (@davidicke) | English conspiracy theorist | 4 November 2020 | Violated Twitter’s rules about healthcare misinformation |
Steve Bannon (@WarRoomP*ndemic) | Former Chief Strategist to Donald Trump | 5 November 2020 | Called for the beheading of Anthony Fauci and Christopher A. Wray on his podcast |
Mohsen Rezaee (@ir_rezaee) | Iranian politician and the secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council | 9 November 2020 | Engaged in abusive behavior |
Bijan Namdar Zangeneh | Iranian Minister of Petroleum | 15 November 2020 | Engaged in impersonation |
True Indology (@tiinexile) | Indian right-wing historian | 17 November 2020 | Engaged in online banter with a senior IPS officer |
@TheBettyTrump | Elizabeth Trump Grau imposter account | 20 November 2020 | Impersonated Elizabeth Trump Grau, Donald Trump’s older sister |
Trapt (@TRAPTOFFICIAL), Chris Taylor Brown (@RealCTBTrapt) | American rock band and its lead vocalist | 8 December 2020 | Wrote several tweets that defended statutory rape |
@real_bobcostas | Bob Costas imposter account | 9 December 2020 | Impersonated Bob Costas after Costas’s son, Keith Michael Kirby Costas, made a complaint to Twitter |
2021 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Date of Suspension | Reason for Suspension |
L. Lin Wood (@LLinWood) | American conspiracy theorist and pro-Trump lawyer | 7 January 2021 | Incited violence and attempted to evade a ban using a secondary account |
Jake Angeli (@USAwolfpack) | American QAnon conspiracy theorist and far-right activist | 7 January 2021 | Found to be one of the leaders of the 2021 US Capitol Attack |
Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump, Team Trump (@TeamTrump) | President of the United States and his presidential campaign account | 8 January 2021 | After Donald Trump’s personal account made several tweets that Twitter deleted, his supporters stormed the US capitol, prompting Twitter to suspend his account permanently. Afterward, Donald Trump used the @POTUS account to make new tweets (ban evasion), which his campaign account (@TeamTrump) retweeted, prompting Twitter to suspend both permanently |
Ben Garrison (@GrrrGraphics) | American alt-right political cartoonist | 8 January 2021 | Posted a cartoon where he endorsed the storming of the US Capitol |
Gary Coby (@GaryCoby) | Digital Director of Trump’s presidential campaign | 8 January 2021 | Tried to help Donald Trump evade his bans by using his account (Coby changed his name and profile picture to those of Donald Trump) |
Michael Flynn (@GenFlynn) | Former National Security Advisor for Donald Trump and retired US Army lieutenant | 8 January 2021 | Violated Twitter’s Policy on “Coordinated harmful activity” by sharing QAnon content |
Jim Watkins (@isitwetyet), Ron Watkins (@CodeMonkeyZ) | Operators of 8kun | 8 January 2021 | Violated Twitter’s Policy on “Coordinated harmful activity” by sharing QAnon content |
Patrick Byrne (@PatrickByrne) | CEO of Overstock.com and pro-Trump activist | 8 January 2021 | Violated Twitter’s Policy on “Coordinated harmful activity” by sharing QAnon content |
Sidney Powell (@SidneyPowell1) | American conspiracy theorist and pro-Trump lawyer | 8 January 2021 | Violated Twitter’s Policy on “Coordinated harmful activity” by sharing QAnon content |
Sci-Hub (@sci_hub) | Kazakhstani shadow library of research papers | 8 January 2021 | Violated Twitter’s policy on counterfeiting |
Ali Alexander (@ali) | American organizer of Stop the Seal campaign and far-right activist | 10 January 2021 | Unknown |
Lou Barletta (@LouBarletta_PA) | Former US Representative for Pennsylvania’s 11th Congressional District | 10 January 2021 | Perceived violations of the impersonation policy (it was later reinstated but the ban was initially permanent) |
Chris Goss (@mastersreality) | Lead singer of Masters of Reality | 11 January 2021 | Unknown |
About 70,000 QAnon-related accounts | QAnon-related accounts | 11 January 2021 | Unknown |
Mike Lindell (realMikeLindell) | CEO of “My Pillow“, conspiracy theorist, and conservative political activist | 25 January 2021 | Repeatedly violated the Civic Integrity policy by using his account to promote disinformation about the presidential election in 2020 |
Yevgeny Prigozhin (@evgenyprigozhin) | Russian businessman | 27 January 2021 | Violated Twitter’s guidelines |
My Pillow (@mypillowusa) | American pillow manufacturing company | 1 February 2021 | Tried to evade the ban after his personal account was banned for disinformation when tweeting “Jack Dorsey is trying to cancel me (Mike Lindell) out!” |
Shiva Ayyadurai (@va_shiva) | Indian-American conspiracy theorist, engineer, and politician | 2 February 2021 | Violated the Civic Integrity policy by using his account to promote disinformation about the presidential election in 2020 and the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) | Founder and editor of the far-right fake news website “Gateway Pundit“ | 6 February 2021 | Repeatedly violated the Civic Integrity policy by using his account to promote disinformation about the presidential election in 2020 |
Wayne Allyn Root (@realwayneroot) | American activist, conspiracy theorist, far-right radio host, author, and conservative political commentator | 6 February 2021 | Violated the Civic Integrity policy |
Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas) | American far-right activist group | 11 February 2021 | Repeatedly violated the policy against publishing private information |
About two dozen Iran- and Russia-affiliated troll accounts | Iran- and Russia-affiliated troll accounts | 25 February 2021 | Tried to “manipulate the platform” by promoting messages from pro-independence critics of SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon |
The Exposé (@DailyExposeUK) | British conspiracy website | March 2021 | Unknown |
Fake accounts that posed as the employees of the Amazon fulfillment center | Fake accounts | 30 March 2021 | Impersonated employees of the Amazon fulfillment center to spread anti-union and anti-Amazon messages |
James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) | American right-wing political activist and the founder of Project Veritas | 15 April 2021 | Operating fake accounts and engaging in spam and platform manipulation |
Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) | Indian actress and supporter of Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party | 4 May 2021 | Demanded in a tweet the Presidentțs rule in West Bengal as a response to the alleged post-poll violence only two days after the announcement of the election results. Kangana Ranaut tweeted “This is horrible… we need super gundai to kill gundai… she is like an unleashed monster, to tame her Modi ji please show your Virat roop from early 2000’s… #PresidentRuleInBengal” |
The Desk of Donald J. Trump (@DJTDesk) | Account that reposted content from Donald Trump’s website | 5 May 2021 | Violated the policy on ban evasion and shared short blog posts from the website of former US President Donald Trump. Twitter said that it would “take enforcement action on accounts whose apparent intent is to replace or promote content affiliated with a suspended account.” Jason Miller, Trump’s spokesman, said that @DJTDesk wasn’t created by Trump or any of his affiliates |
9 accounts tied to Irish columnist and journalist Eoghan Harris | Accounts tied to Irish columnist and journalist Eoghan Harris | 6 May 2021 | Engaged in platform manipulation by operating an anonymous sock puppet account on Twitter (@Barbara J Pym). This account tweeted incendiary tweets about Irish politics and harassed journalist Aoife Moore. Multiple accounts tied to @barbarapym2 were also suspended at some point, and Eoghan Harris was one of several people who operated this account |
Naomi Wolf (@naomirwolf) | American anti-vaccination conspiracy theorist and feminist writer | 4 June 2021 | Spread misinformation about vaccines |
Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah) | American geographer and alleged whistleblower | 7 June 2021 | Engaged in spam and platform manipulation by retweeting a “Miami Herald” article regarding her tenure with the Florida Department of Health |
Nick Fuentes (@NickJFuentes) | American far-right political commentator and white nationalist | 9 July 2021 | Repeatedly violated Twitter’s rules. Permanently banned after Twitter discovered the “Nicholas J. Fuentes: Five Things to Know” article published by the Anti-Defamation League |
Nation of Islam (@OfficialNOI) | American political and religious organization | 22 July 2022 | Spread misinformation about the vaccines |
@ArizonaAudit, @Audit_PA, @AuditGeorgita, @AuditMichigan, @AuditNevada, @AuditWarRoom, @AuditWisconsin | Accounts that called for pro-Trump audits of the 2020 US presidential elections and promoted the Maricopa County audit | 27 July 2021 | Violated the policies regarding spam and platform manipulation |
Anjem Choudary (@anjemchoudary_) | British Islamist hate preacher who was convicted under the UK Terrorism Act 2000 | 28 July 2021 | Violated Twitter’s rules regarding violating individuals and organizations. Anjem Choudary had been convicted of supporting ISIL in 2016 and all his social media accounts were banned |
Bronze Age Pervert (@bronzeagemantis) | Alt-right author | 4 August 2021 | Unknown |
@CormacMcCrthy | Imposter of Cormac McCarthy’s account | 9 August 2021 | Account made by Daniel Watts, California Republican candidate, used to impersonate Cormac McCarthy |
Aubrey Hugg (@aubrey_huff) | Former professional baseball player | 10 August 2021 | Repeatedly engaged in misleading posts about the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
@BBCAfghanNews, @CNNAfghan, @MSNBCAfghan | Fake news accounts | 17 August 2021 | Propagated a fake story about “Bernie Gores“, an inexistent CNN journalist who was allegedly killed by the Taliban during the Fall of Kabul |
Jean Messiha (@jeanmessiha) | French politician | 26 August 2021 | Repeatedly engaged in hateful conduct |
Alex Berenson (@alexberenson) | Writer | 29 August 2021 | Repeatedly posted misleading information about the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
Anonymous Germany (@AnonNewsDE) | Decentralized hacking group | 13 September 2021 | Hacked the account of neo-Nazi conspiracy theorist Attila Hildman, disseminated hacked materials, breached the policy on private information, and engaged in spam and platform manipulation |
Greg Locke (@pastorlocke) | Founder of Global Vision Bible Church | 14 September 2021 | Repeatedly engaged in misinformation regarding the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
Emerald Robinson (@Emeraldrobionson) | American journalist and White House Correspondent for Newsmax TV and | 10 November 2021 | Repeatedly engaged in misinformation regarding the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
@TrackerTrial | Account that covered the s3x trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell | 8 December 2021 | Engaged in spam and platform manipulation |
Rober W. Malone (@RWMaloneMD) | American immunologist and virologist | 29 December 2021 | Repeatedly engaged in misinformation regarding the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
2022 Permanent Suspensions
Account Name | Account Identity | Account Date | Reason for Suspension |
Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee) | Personal account of US Congresswoman representing the 14th congressional district of Georgia | 2 January 2022 | Repeatedly engaged in information regarding the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
Politics for All (@PoliticsForAll) | News aggregate account | 4 January 2022 | Engaged in spam and platform manipulation |
Luciano Hang (@lucianohangbr) | Brazilian businessman and the co-founder and owner of Havan department stores | 12 January 2022 | A court order issued by the Supreme Federal Court against fake news in Brazil, and a video he shared where he denounced the vaccination of children |
Ali Khamenei (@KhameneiSite) | An official Twitter account belonging to the Supreme Leader of Iran | 15 January 2022 | Posted an animation targeting the former US president Donald Trump as revenge for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in 2020 |
300 accounts that promoted the Phillippines’ presidential front-runner Bongbong Marcos | Accounts that promoted the Phillippines’ presidential front-runner Bongbong Marcos | 21 January 2022 | Engaged in spam and platform manipulation |
@wordlinator | Account that highlights the contradictory and hypocritical tweets of public figures | 15 February 2022 | Violated the “automation rules around sending unsolicited mentions“ |
Grace Lavery (@graceelavery) | Associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley | 23 February 2022 | Tweeted “I hope the queen dies” after Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for the virus |
CNN Ukraine (@CNNUKR) | Fake news account | 25 February 2022 | Shared fake news about the death of a journalist in Ukraine |
Randy Hillier (@randyhillier) | A member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament | 8 March 2022 | Repeatedly engaged in misinformation around the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
Samantha Markle (@TheMarkleSammy) | Older paternal half-sister of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex | 14 March 2022 | Ban evasion |
Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) | Bill Clinton rape accuser | 11 April 2022 | Spread potentially harmful and misleading information about the Made unsubstantiated (no evidence) claims about the impending nation-spread food shortages caused by the healthcare crisis, after repeatedly breaking Twitter’s rules and making false statements. |
Roger Stone (@RogerStoneUSA) | American lobbyist and conservative political consultant | 28 April 2022 | Evaded the October 2017 Twitter ban |
Donald J Trump’s Truth Social Posts (@PresTrumpTS) | Account that posted Donald Trump’s posts from this Truth Social account | 17 May 2022 | Evaded his permanent ban since the 2021 US Capitol attack |
Approximately 300 suspected Irish bot accounts | Suspected Irish bot accounts | 17 May 2022 | Mass-retweeted a tweet made by the Irish Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly and engaged in spam after the Department of Health and Fianna Fáil political party called for an investigation into the accounts |
80 accounts tied to Gurbaksh Chahal’s BNN News Network | Accounts tied to Gurbaksh Chahal’s BNN News Network | 28 June 2022 | Engaged in spam and platform manipulation |
@RuthSentUs | American pro-abortion rights group | 14 July 2022 | Published a map that contained the home addresses of the six Supreme Court Justices |
Tetsuya Yamagami (333_hill) | The assassin of Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former Prime Minister | 19 July 2022 | Violated unspecified Twitter corporate policies |
@GBNews_UK | Fake news account | 26 July 2022 | Posted a fake news article that claimed a lorry carrying £20,000 worth of lobsters and champagne to Jacob Rees-Mogg’s house remained stuck in traffic |
James A. Lindsay (ConceptualJames) | American author, mathematician, and cultural critic | 5 August 2022 | Engaged in hateful content |
Luis Miguel (@LuisMiguesUS) | American political candidate | 19 August 2022 | Advocated the shooting of federal enforcement agents in a tweet |
@bjorkanism | Account used by Bjorka, an alleged Polish hacker and hacktivist | 11 September 2022 | Distributed hacked materials on Twitter |
@bjorxanism, @bjorkanesian, @bjorkanism19 | Accounts used by Bjorka, an alleged Polish hacker and hacktivist | 12, 13, 18 September 2022 | Violated the ban evasion policy |
Peter A. McCullough (@P_McCulloughMD) | American epidemiologist and cardiologist | 6 October 2022 | Unknown |
Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) | American comedian | 6 November 2022 | Impersonated Elon Musk |
Amy Rose Brown (@arb) | Verified user | 6 November 2022 | Impersonated Elon Musk |
Chris Kluwe (@chriswarcraft) | Former American football player | 6 November 2022 | Impersonated Elon Musk |
h3h3Productions (@h3h3productions) | American YouTuber | 6 November 2022 | Impersonated Elon Musk |
Jeph Jacques (@jephjacques) | American cartoonish and the creator of “Questionable Content“ | 6 November 2022 | Impersonated Elon Musk |
Rich Sommer (@richsommer) | American actor | 6 November 2022 | Impersonated Elon Musk |
@EliLillyandCo | Account that impersonated Eli Lilly and Company | 10 November 2022 | Impersonated several individuals and posted a tweet where she claimed that Eli Lilly and Company made insulin free, which caused Eli Lilly to lose $15 billion in market capitalization |
Elm Fork John Brown Gub Club (@EFJBGC) | Anti-fascist gun group | 22 November 2022 | Engaged in hateful conduct in tweets by criticizing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and advocating for LGBT gun ownership after the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting |
Chad Loder (@chadloder) | American anti-fascist activist | 23 November 2022 | Unknown, though he was allegedly banned on order from Elon Musk directly |
CrimethInc (@crimethinc) | Anarchist collective | 25 November 2022 | Banned after Andy Ngrequestedto Elon Musk |
Edit Frost (@Seaedithfrost) | American singer-songwriter | 30 November 2022 | Impersonated Elon Musk |
Kanye West (@kanyewest) | American rapper | 1 December 2022 | Posted a picture of a Raëlism symbol that resembled a swastika inside a Star of David, and also praised Adolf Hitler during an appearance on InfoWars |
@ElonJet, @ZuccJet, @JohnKerryJet, @Trumpjets Jack Sweeney (@JxckSweeney) | Accounts that tracked the private flights of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, John Kerry, and Donald Trump, and the accounts’ owner | 14 December 2022 | Violated Twitter rules. Elon Musk said that these accounts were “a direct personal safety risk“ |
Susan Li (@SusanLiTV) | Journalist for “Fox Business“ | 16 December 2022 | Posted a link leading to a flight-tracking website |
Conclusion
In 2016, Twitter went on a spree of account suspensions, with even notable ones ranging in the 40 and 50s per year.
Needless to say, the company has quite a tangled relationship with what it perceives as free speech, and Elon Musk’s takeover is bound to result in some drastic changes in that regard.
Whether that leads to more or fewer permanent account bans remains to be seen!
Sources:
Twitter: Transparency Reports
Search Engine Journal: Twitter Transparency Reports Shows Dark Side of Social Media
Teslarati: Twitter Suspended 14 Million Accounts Between 2012 & 2021: Study
Statista: Twitter Statistics
Wikipedia: Twitter Suspensions
Social Media Today: Twitter Has Suspended More Than 70,000 Accounts Following the Capital Riots
Technology Review: Twitter May Have Lost More than a Million users Since Elon Musk Took Over