Trump-supporting Twitter users the world over logged on Wednesday morning to find their follower counts diminished. Appearances suggest the targets of this so-called Twitter “purge” were suspected bot accounts, and unverified users whose tweeting patterns reflect those of Russian bots: Locked out users were required to prove their humanity by entering a phone number.
In a statement, Twitter called it a housecleaning, unmotivated by political bias. “Twitter’s tools are apolitical,” according to their statement, which explains: “We identify suspicious account behaviors that indicate automated activity or violations of our policies around having multiple accounts.”
The irate Trumpkins of Twitter maintain their kind were disproportionately dinged. Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer complained of late-night losses in the thousands.
Shortly after 7 a.m., real-estate executive turned intensely loyal pro-Trump internet persona Bill Mitchell (read more about his path to pro-Trump punditry here) added to the panic, tweeting that he’d lost 4,000 overnight.
I lost around 4000 or so. https://t.co/HZRz0y4aJM
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) February 21, 2018
The hashtag #TwitterLockOut was trending. “We’re all Americans who voted for Trump, without being influenced by commies, yet every major Trump supporting account was locked out overnight. Unbelievable!!!!” tweeted one account, username TrumpIsMyPresident™.
We’re all Americans who voted for Trump, without being influenced by commies, yet every major Trump supporting account was locked out overnight. Unbelievable!!!#TwitterLockOut pic.twitter.com/xJk1H5ROdA
— ExposerOfTheDeepState (@Trumpism_45) February 21, 2018
Was it time for a Trumpkin Twitter diaspora? Should DeplorableDeb and Trump4Ever decamp for the alternative microblogging platform Gab, the “Free Speech Social Network,” in search of freedom from anti-racist censorship?
Not quite yet. Within hours, many of the locked accounts, be they bots or bot-like humans, were back online. As suspected bots provided discrete phone numbers to prove they were people, follower counts like Bill Mitchell’s were mostly restored. Mitchell, by late Wednesday morning, wouldn’t even call it a purge.
“I would call it more of a Twitter confirmation issue,” he said, toeing the Twitter line. “What people are finding is that a lot of the followers they lost overnight are coming back.”
In retrospect, the so-called purge might not have been “as nefarious” as it looked. But let’s not stop freaking out all at once. “There’s another explanation: That maybe such a ruckus was raised over it that Twitter walked back what they were trying to do.”
