politics
Twitter cracks down again on Ford satire accounts
The latest crackdown targeted accounts including one that tweeted out factual historical information.
A second Doug Ford satirical account, @frodnation2018, was suspended on Oct. 12, but it is unclear what suddenly prompted the suspension.
“I merely received the same vague letter claiming that it violated Twitter’s “impersonation” rules,” says Richard Feren, the man behind the account.
Another DoFo related account, @DougFordFacts—this one unrelated to Feren—was briefly suspended last week, but was reinstated after some minor modifications were made to its profile. Feren then discovered that the other Twitter account he runs, @FordYearsAgo, an informational account that tweeted historical facts and articles about the Fords from exactly four years to the day, was also suspended. He appealed the suspension, and received a vague form letter claiming impersonation again.
Feren says the controversy surrounding these parody accounts raises questions about what constitutes impersonation on Twitter.
“They seemed to have broadened the definition of impersonation,” says Feren.
“Other accounts remain active, such as @JohnToryWatch and the dozens of Trump parodies and other historical info accounts, so why the sudden draw to the name Ford?”