Prominent Conservatives Abandon Twitter, Citing Censorship

A sign is posted on the exterior of Twitter headquarter in San Francisco, on July 26, 2018. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A number of conservative media figures have left Twitter in recent days following the suspension of President Donald Trump’s account.

Greg Gutfeld, Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, and Mark Levin all have left for different platforms.

“Okay, this IS my last tweet: CNN tries to get FNC [Fox News] banned. Apple targets Parler. Publishers dump writers. music labels drop artists. twitter bans/removes thousands. tech companies join hands. this redefines who the true rebels are. if you like the purge, you’re the servant,” Gutfeld wrote on Twitter.

Levin wrote: “I have suspended my own Twitter account in protest against Twitter’s fascism. I ask all my followers to join me now on Parler and Rumble.”

Dobbs also said: “I don’t believe any American should ever tolerate those who deny us freedom of speech or who would ever be so arrogant as to censor our President.”

“I’m withdrawing from Twitter as of right now,” he added. “Please join me on Parler @LouDobbsTonight, God bless you and America.”

Last week, Twitter, Facebook, and other tech firms announced they were suspending Trump’s access to the platforms. Several prominent conservatives’ accounts were also deleted.

Limbaugh appeared to delete his Twitter page, without comment.

Twitter in a statement on Jan. 8 argued that Trump violated its terms of service, citing the breach of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6.

“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them, we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said in a statement.

The social media application logo from Parler displayed on a smartphone in Arlington, Va., on July 2, 2020. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

It comes as Parler, a social media platform largely used by conservatives, was banned by Google’s and Apple’s app stores, respectively. Amazon also confirmed it would suspend Parler from using its Amazon Cloud Services starting on Jan. 10.

Parler CEO John Matze said it was a “coordinated attack” by large tech companies to “kill competition.”

“You can expect the war on competition and free speech to continue, but don’t count us out,” he said.

The wave of censorship prompted a warning from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Twitter’s decision to suspend Trump from social media sets a precedent for tech companies to silence voices, Kate Ruane, a senior legislative counsel at the ACLU, said in a statement.

“We understand the desire to permanently suspend him now, but it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions—especially when political realities make those decisions easier,” the ACLU statement reads.

“President Trump can turn his press team or Fox News to communicate with the public, but others ... who have been censored by social media companies—will not have that luxury. It is our hope that these companies will apply their rules transparently to everyone.”