Due to multiple violations of Twitter’s sensitive media regulation, the account belonging to Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana was temporarily suspended.
On Tuesday, Daines’s Twitter profile displayed messages that indicated the account was temporarily down because it violated the Twitter media policy. These messages remained on the profile for several hours.
Profile Picture Violation
An assistant to the senator claims the reason why Daines’ account was suspended was because of his profile picture, which displayed Daines and his wife posing for a picture while hunting.
A separate campaign account for Daines, which featured a different profile photo, was unaffected by the breach.
My full statement on my Twitter suspension and reinstatement here: pic.twitter.com/TvgyMd8yeX
— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) February 7, 2023
Reporters were able to obtain a message from Twitter informing Daines of his suspension. In the message, Twitter explained the company decided Daines’ profile picture violated a rule prohibiting gratuitous violence or inappropriate content in profile images.
A request for comment was sent to Twitter, but the company did not immediately answer. Rachel Dumke, a spokesman for Daine, issued a statement in which she referred to the suspension as “preposterous.”
Dumke also mentioned that Twitter told Daine’s office the ban will continue until the profile photo is deleted.
Statements and Elon Musk’s Action
A spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee named Philip Letsou issued a statement in which he referred to the entire matter as being ridiculous. Leysou said Twitter ought to undo this suspension at the earliest possible moment.
CNN was able to obtain an email that was sent by Ella Irwin, Vice President of Trust and Safety at Twitter, to the office of Daines. The email states the stance on graphic profile pictures exists at the company because of a technical modification of the Twitter platform.
Irwin stated they do not allow pictures of dead creatures or blood in profile pics because they are unable to brand them as NSFW and prevent users who primarily don’t want to see graphic images from viewing them.
The users who specifically don’t want to see graphic images include people who have religious or moral objections to seeing such images.
In Daines’ profile picture, there was an animal that appeared to have tiny spots of blood on its fur; however, these spots were impossible to make out without widening the image.
Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, commented on the incident on Tuesday, saying the company’s policy on sensitive media was “being rectified.”
I’m free! Thanks, @elonmusk. https://t.co/reDuCwf4Q2
— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) February 7, 2023
He announced the change via a tweet, saying the phrase “clearly showing blood without clicking on the profile pic” would be added to the policy that prohibits showing blood in profile pictures.
He went on to say that the goal was to prevent people from being coerced into viewing disturbing profile photographs.
After some time had passed, Dumke revealed to CNN on Tuesday that Musk personally reactivated Daines’ account by calling him and doing so.
This article appeared in The Political Globe and has been published here with permission.
