A Twitter user who was locked out of her account for criticizing the Muslim Brotherhood last week has finally received an apology for the illegitimate ban.
The user, a Coptic Christian doctor, had called the Islamist group out for their acts of terrorism directed at Egypt’s embattled Christian minority.
She reported last Friday that her account had been suspended for 11 hours for a tweet she posted on the 9/11 anniversary that identified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
https://twitter.com/womaninmedicine/status/1040771786936344577
She complained the following day that she wasn’t getting replies to her emails asking Twitter how her tweet violated their rules.
https://twitter.com/womaninmedicine/status/1041092128208760833
She was then banned from Twitter for a whole week after complaining about her suspension, citing other tweets criticizing the Muslim Brotherhood:
https://twitter.com/SituationO/status/1041629271188549632
Her Twitter suspension received high-profile attention and was even picked up in the Middle East media:
https://twitter.com/Imamofpeace/status/1041915529210941440
The Muslim Brotherhood is a wide umbrella movement with different aims in different countries – if #twitter had community based moderation, the nuance might not get lost so easily.https://t.co/bilHb8AbWC
— Al Bawaba Node (@_thenode) September 17, 2018
But she reports today that her suspension has been lifted and that she has received an apology for the illegitimate ban — though apparently, she hasn’t received an explanation for why it happened.
https://twitter.com/womaninmedicine/status/1042093923387285505
Despite the apology, her Twitter experience continues with some difficulty:
https://twitter.com/womaninmedicine/status/1042126185419956224
Nevertheless, she remains defiant:
https://twitter.com/womaninmedicine/status/1042096214513262592
And as a Coptic Christian, she certainly has legitimate cause to call the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
Just last month, the Muslim Brotherhood was sued for the dozens of churches and Christian institutions they burned down in Egypt in August 2013.
I subsequently reported here at PJ Media on visiting some of those burned-out churches in Upper Egypt in April 2014:
Muslim Brotherhood sued internationally over burning 42 churches – #EgyptToday #Egypt #Copts #MuslimBrotherhood https://t.co/FmIfb1JECO
— Egypt Today Magazine (@EgyptTodayMag) August 16, 2018
Revisiting the Muslim Brotherhood's August 2013 'Reign of Terror' Targeting Egypt's Christians https://t.co/Rf31VJzz4z #homelandsecurity
— PJ Media (@PJMedia_com) August 14, 2016
But Twitter silencing the voices of those identifying the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization is highly problematic, as many of our allies in the Middle East have already designated the group, including Israel:
As America's Arab Muslim Allies Move Against the Muslim Brotherhood, #SmartSet Doubles Down Support https://t.co/eaRC4TfUeo via @pjmedia_com pic.twitter.com/XvtHUKeiJx
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) June 23, 2017
Israel Bans the Muslim Brotherhood for Inciting Violence, Seeking to Replace Israel with Caliphate https://t.co/m5brzeBNKk #tcot
— PJ Media (@PJMedia_com) November 17, 2015
The intelligence agencies of our European allies are also taking a more critical look at the group’s role in international terrorism:
CIA Defends the Muslim Brotherhood as Western Intel Agencies Warn of Dangers, Support for Terrorism https://t.co/XIha1ado8l via @PJMedia_com
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) December 27, 2017
Other countries around the world are also taking a harder look at the group:
Federal Government Warns Citizens Against 'Muslim Brotherhood'. https://t.co/2sGc13wYv1 pic.twitter.com/wVEbYGbQMU
— Channels Television (@channelstv) February 10, 2017
As I reported back in January, the State Department designated two of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s terror wings —Harakat Sawa’d Misr (HASM) and Liwa al-Thawra.
.@StateDept has designated Ismail Haniyeh, Harakat al-Sabireen, Liwa al Thawra, and Harakat Sawa’d Misr (HASM) as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. Full details: https://t.co/6rmZD6rogE
— State Dept CT Bureau (@StateDeptCT) January 31, 2018
Just last week I noted that Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had renewed calls to designate the Muslim Brotherhood.
Ted Cruz Renews Call To Designate Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Group https://t.co/Si2pH8zDEz #HomelandSecurity via @pjmedia_com
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) September 12, 2018
Last year, Sen. Cruz introduced a bill in the Senate calling for just that. The House companion bill was sponsored by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.).
Proud to introduce Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act w @MarioDB. It's time to call the enemy by its name https://t.co/0V7Psi2jC1 pic.twitter.com/YPM47AQjNH
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 10, 2017
It's time for State Dept to take a serious look into the Muslim Brotherhood. Org threatens our national security.https://t.co/WGlB8LM6tQ
— Mario Diaz-Balart (@MarioDB) February 9, 2017
Two months ago, the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security held hearings on the escalation of violence by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Starting in just a few minutes ➡ chairing a @GOPoversight National Security hearing examining the global threat of the Muslim Brotherhood. Watch live: https://t.co/3rBpatTMyq ….
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) July 11, 2018
Congress Renews Push to Designate Muslim Brotherhood as Terror Group@RepDeSantis: 'The Muslim Brotherhood is a malevolent force, and American policy needs to reflect this truth' https://t.co/9QyxZxkYPn pic.twitter.com/5mNnJgADb8
— RJC (@RJC) July 11, 2018
The danger of Twitter’s “error” in censoring voices calling the Muslim Brotherhood out for terrorism isn’t just that it runs afoul of realities in the Middle East and the ongoing assessment of European intelligence agencies — analysis diametrically opposed by the U.S. intelligence agencies and corporate news media who continually rise to the defense of the group. It also ignores the State Department’s designation of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s terror wing while simultaneously stifling an ongoing political debate just weeks before the congressional midterm elections.
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