Continuing its fight against misinformation, Twitter has suspended hundreds of accounts associated with spreading false claims about a communications failure in Washington D.C.
The firm investigated #dcblackout, a trending hashtag, which falsely claimed that authorities had blocked communications in Washington D.C. to hinder protesters. It was first tweeted by an account that had only three followers. But soon after, the hashtag gained traction and was tweeted around 500,000 times within a period of nine hours, according to the Washington Post. A representative of the firm stated that the suspension of accounts follows from Twitter"s policy of prohibiting spam and platform manipulation, Bloomberg wrote.
The suspension of accounts comes at a time when protests have spread outside of Minnesota into other states as well. Thousands have come out onto the streets after the death of an African-American man George Floyd in police custody. Protestors are calling for ending racism and are pushing for equality. Severe criticism about the police force has emerged as well.
In addition, Twitter also blocked a hashtag enticing protestors to kneel on people"s necks, mimicking the action of the officer who has charged with third-degree murder in George Floyd’s death.
Source: Bloomberg