Now this is political correctness! https://t.co/nHqwThH2SN

— Tim Fernholz (@TimFernholz) April 25, 2019

But the Twitter's employee's comments—that the public will generally not accept banning Republican politicians as a trade-off to eradicating white supremacy—touches on something broader: do societal norms play a greater role than some may acknowledge?https://t.co/x6JRvdvJJG pic.twitter.com/uEiHStNhVg

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) April 25, 2019

this is a big story with excellent internal sources

once a company gets to this level of leaking it is in trouble, because it means the executives have lost the confidence of the rank and file https://t.co/GMc9g61x6c

— rat king (@MikeIsaac) April 25, 2019

They could just flag accounts from “white”-listed politicians so they don’t get autobanned. Or they could ban them as white supremacist rhetoric. https://t.co/HfPuVlforB

— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) April 25, 2019

the asymmetric nature of politics right now has scrambled brains of folks who adhere to a very rigid idea of both sides fairness and that confusion is the biggest thing that true grifters & bigots take advantage of to peddle half truths and propaganda https://t.co/xjORtcSXPk

— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) April 25, 2019

NEW: We have reporting inside Twitter that explains why Jack hasn't "banned the Nazis:" Treating white supremacy like ISIS would mean autobanning some Republican politicians https://t.co/2VmUpqzM7p

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) April 25, 2019

New: at a recent Twitter all-hands meeting, an employee asked: Twitter has eradicated ISIS. Why can’t it do the same for white supremacists?

One answer that is discussed internally, we found: because it would mean banning some Republican politicians too https://t.co/x6JRvdvJJG pic.twitter.com/VRnht57WkN

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) April 25, 2019

In a statement to Business Insider, @Twitter says a new report that it won't use an algorithm to crack down on white supremacists because of concerns that some GOP politicians could also get banned "has absolutely no basis in fact" https://t.co/FsVoaKbUVW pic.twitter.com/QeQQq3njo3

— Business Insider (@businessinsider) April 25, 2019

The issue is that Twitter treats ISIS and white supremacist moderation in fundamentally different ways. Twitter bans ISIS like spam, automatically, at scale, aggressively, proactively. It doesn't with white supremacy; that would flag 'innocent' accounts https://t.co/x6JRvdvJJG pic.twitter.com/qC7Qh2pLow

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) April 25, 2019

Twitter reportedly worried banning white nationalists would also flag some Republicans: https://t.co/BByjnrfdMy pic.twitter.com/KrA7ONsqFX

— The Daily Dot (@dailydot) April 25, 2019

Why Jack hasn't banned Nazis on Twitter https://t.co/2ybbrVKFRV pic.twitter.com/kPHuvTmdCB

— Xeni (@xeni) April 25, 2019

New: at a recent Twitter all-hands meeting, an employee asked: Twitter has eradicated ISIS. Why can’t it do the same for white supremacists?

One answer that is discussed internally, we found: because it would mean banning some Republican politicians too https://t.co/x6JRvdvJJG pic.twitter.com/VRnht57WkN

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) April 25, 2019

Why Won’t Twitter Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS? Because It Would Mean Banning Some Republican Politicians Too@Twitter employee working on machine learning believes a proactive, algorithmic solution to white supremacy would also catch GOP politicians https://t.co/h6olAi624r pic.twitter.com/85hiwFyhwS

— Psychonaut (@WakingLifeDream) April 25, 2019

NEW: We have reporting inside Twitter that explains why Jack hasn't "banned the Nazis:" Treating white supremacy like ISIS would mean autobanning some Republican politicians https://t.co/2VmUpqzM7p

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) April 25, 2019

jfc. Twitter won't treat white supremacist propaganda like ISIS propaganda because white supremacist rhetoric is so pervasive in right-wing circles that using an algorithm to detect it would also mean banning some GOP politicians from the platform.https://t.co/VKK0vvRkJB

— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) April 25, 2019

I’ll say this: if what is reported here is not the reason why @Twitter has failed to sweep white supremacist content off of its platform the same way that it managed to rid itself of ISIS, then it owes us that explanation. https://t.co/FoNcb8yuTx

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) April 25, 2019

“Why Won’t Twitter Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS?

Because It Would Mean Banning Some Republican Politicians Too.”

(Any comment @Jack?) https://t.co/yzISt9Iplk

— Kassandra Seven (@KassandraSeven) April 25, 2019

Very big scoop from @josephfcox + @jason_koebler: Twitter isn't going after white supremacist content online as it did ISIS, because Republican politicians would be caught up in bans by algorithms detecting hate speech https://t.co/UMVzSeX5MS

— Ben Makuch (@BMakuch) April 25, 2019

Source at Twitter says @Jack hasn't banned Nazis because auto-banning white supremacist extremists would mean auto-banning certain Republican politicians.

We now know where Jack’s heart is and where Twitter stands.

They are on the wrong side of history. https://t.co/bnrtBLNCgz

— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) April 25, 2019

Godddd this @motherboard piece on why Twitter won't eliminate white supremacy from the site the way it has done with with other objectionable material is so revealing. (Yes, the answer is Repbulicans.) https://t.co/UEapke7gFN pic.twitter.com/oSsu4XZVuT

— austin walker (@austin_walker) April 25, 2019

Exactly, and that would be a win for humanity. https://t.co/mWjT3AgVOc

— Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC) April 25, 2019

Complicit Trash: "The term 'GOP-Nazi Party' is unacceptable hyperbole!!!"
The algorithm: "Hmm actually..."https://t.co/jnGCemDwiW pic.twitter.com/4pF2zon5Yc

— Eli Valley (@elivalley) April 25, 2019

Well well fucking well https://t.co/nqQOgwisqO

— Bender (@BitcoinBender) April 25, 2019

Twitter Won't Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS Because It'd Have to Ban Some GOP Politicians Too https://t.co/oukD3J9A4U via @motherboard

— Suroosh Alvi (@SurooshAlvi) April 25, 2019

Steve King is the first who comes to mind (and is mentioned in the article.)

Twitter Won't Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS Because It'd Have to Ban Some GOP Politicians Toohttps://t.co/aS8kp0V0eE

— Blue Wave Crowdsource (@BlueWaveCS) April 25, 2019

The issue is that Twitter treats ISIS and white supremacist moderation in fundamentally different ways. Twitter bans ISIS like spam, automatically, at scale, aggressively, proactively. It doesn't with white supremacy; that would flag 'innocent' accounts https://t.co/x6JRvdvJJG pic.twitter.com/qC7Qh2pLow

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) April 25, 2019

We can frame this the opposite way, too: Filters designed to target ISIS overban, but mostly affect people without the political leverage to make this awkward for the company. https://t.co/nOdkcgaBEu

— Julian Sanchez (@normative) April 25, 2019

Twitter Won't Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS Because It'd Have to Ban Some GOP Politicians Too https://t.co/RlTap05oV4

— Bruce Bartlett (@BruceBartlett) April 25, 2019

Ah, Twitter can’t ban white supremacy because it’s a white supremacist company with white supremacist policies that is run by a white supremacist, got it ?? https://t.co/225jOlkKZd

— Julie ? (@nrrrdcore) April 25, 2019

"We can't get rids of Nazis because it would mean getting rid of some Republicans" is a hell of an argument.https://t.co/DMRXZQbzGo

— Robert McNees (@mcnees) April 25, 2019

Twitter won't treat white supremacy like ISIS because it would mean banning some Republican politicians, too. https://t.co/ygSZ5mYTjz

— VICE (@VICE) April 25, 2019

If You Sound Like a Nazi...

Apparently, Twitter cannot ban Nazi/white nationalists because Repub politicians would likely be swept up by the algorithms.

Sounds to me like Repubs need to stop tweeting racist/white supremacist content.https://t.co/tY1KEz99EB

— HeyDrWilson™, Wakandan Biotec, Inc. (@HeyDrWilson) April 25, 2019

"Twitter hasn’t taken the same aggressive approach to white supremacist content [as with ISIS content] because the collateral accounts that are impacted can, in some instances, be Republican politicians." https://t.co/UXNQa9svnU

— Matthew Reichbach (@fbihop) April 25, 2019

There it is: Twitter employee admits that algorithms can't distinguish between Republicans and white supremacists. https://t.co/Ivo0Cz2LaA

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) April 25, 2019

Twitter Won't Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS Because It'd Have to Ban Some GOP Politicians Too https://t.co/kdB5mTBt0F

— Hassan Shibly (@HassanShibly) April 25, 2019

The headline on this article--that Twitter won't ban white supremacy because that would mean banning some Republican politicians--is important if unsurprising. But this part is actually more interesting. https://t.co/zw6t3VPU7H pic.twitter.com/pKmIS1akRP

— Jacob Remes (@jacremes) April 25, 2019

Twitter doesn't go after white nationalist content as aggressively as it did with ISIS because it would likely mean some Republicans' accounts would be flagged as well, Motherboard reportshttps://t.co/UIwDcs9200

— Axios (@axios) April 25, 2019

Banning people for simply having far right views is a mistake. If they're inciting violence? Ban them. Anti-vaxxers? They're hurting kids. Ban them. Foreign gov't led / funded ops? Ban them.

But social media companies shouldn't be the thought police. https://t.co/woXZPQqvdp

— Jay McKenzie (@JamesFourM) April 26, 2019

"Twitter hasn’t taken the same aggressive approach to white supremacist content because the collateral accounts that are impacted can, in some instances, be Republican politicians." https://t.co/QX5WAHVtNn

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) April 25, 2019

Why Twitter won't ban the Nazis or other Right-wing terrorist groups: "Treating white supremacy like ISIS would mean autobanning some U.S. Republican politicians." https://t.co/cb1nItfcnd …

— Central (@YourAnonCentral) April 25, 2019

White-supremacist rhetoric strongly overlaps GOP rhetoric. https://t.co/TACZ7XHavb

— Aaron Sojourner (@aaronsojourner) April 26, 2019

なんだこれ。Twitter社やっぱりやらかしてんじゃねーか

"なぜTwitter社はISISのように白人至上主義に関するツイートを禁止しないのか？それは一部の共和党の政治家を禁止することを意味するから"https://t.co/ylOJTGmncK

— 琉牛牛 (@ryuryukyu) April 26, 2019

Twitter Won't Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS Because It'd Have to Ban Some Republican Politicians Too https://t.co/acRwpLtZ0q via @motherboard

— Stephen Lautens (@stephenlautens) April 26, 2019

Like, say...#DerangedDonald
Twitter Won't Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS Because It'd Have to Ban Some GOP Politicians Too https://t.co/LRkjg8rMMA

— Amy Siskind ?️‍? (@Amy_Siskind) April 26, 2019

Why Won’t Twitter Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS? Because It Would Mean Banning Some Republican Politicians Too. - Motherboard https://t.co/ysva0qq3Zo

— Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) April 26, 2019

“Why Won’t Twitter Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS? Because It Would Mean Banning Some Republican Politicians Too.” - Motherboard https://t.co/urH3lf3pzw

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 25, 2019

That's too bad. They should stop and think why their accounts or those that follow them would get flagged.https://t.co/qsRbZNHuLl

— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) April 25, 2019