Conservative pundit Candace Owens was suspended on Twitter after she encouraged Michigan residents to defy the governor’s stay-at-home orders.
Owens, 31, has made her opposition to stay-at-home orders that have taken over most of the country known on social media. On Friday, she went after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has faced significant backlash and protests over her executive orders.
“Apparently [Whitmer] believes she is a duly elected dictator of a socialist country,” Owens tweeted. “The people of Michigan need to stand up to her. Open your businesses. Go to work. The police think she’s crazy too. They are not going to arrest 10,000,000 people for going to work.”
Twitter ruled that the tweet violated the platform’s guidelines, and she has decided to appeal its ruling.
“I unequivocally stand by every single word of my tweet,” Owens told the Washington Examiner. “If Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can use Twitter’s platform to encourage workers to walk out and boycott — I should be allowed to encourage lawful citizens to resume work. The only person breaking any laws is governor-turned-dictator Gretchen Whitmer, who is impoverishing millions, ignoring the votes of her state legislature, and as a result, rolling over the constitutionally protected rights of Michigan citizens.”
She added, “Twitter was unable or unwilling to provide me with any specific rule that I violated, which is why I have appealed their decision. While I am not an expert on Twitter TOS, I cannot see how suggesting people ought to work would be a violation of anything other than socialist reverie.”
Owens’s call for residents to ignore the governor’s orders was similar to what President Trump tweeted last month as he urged people in Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia to “liberate” themselves and reopen their economies. However, Twitter ruled that the “liberate” tweet was not a violation of its policy because it was “vague and unclear, and not something that allows us to reliably infer harmful physical intent.”
UPDATE: After publication, a representative for the platform told the Washington Examiner that Owens’s tweet violated the specific guideline that forbids the “denial of … government body recommendations to decrease an individual’s likelihood of exposure to COVID-19 with the intent to influence users into acting contrary to recommended guidance.”
The spokeswoman said that Owens will need to delete the tweet for her account to be reinstated.
