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Graham Linehan permanently banned from Twitter for ‘hateful conduct’

Graham Linehan

Graham Linehan. (Getty/ Rob Monk/Edge Magazine)

Graham Linehan has been permanently banned from Twitter for repeatedly violating the social media platform’s rules against hateful conduct.

The former comedy writer and anti-trans campaigner lost his blue tick verification earlier this week after he accused an LGBT+ group of “grooming”. It was later reinstated, with Linehan complaining that he’d had to remove a number of tweets that referenced grooming in order to unlock his account.

Twitter opted to take permanent action after he continued tweeting offensive content, writing “Men aren’t women tho” in response to a Women’s Institute post wishing a happy Pride to all of their transgender members.

A spokesperson for Twitter told Metro: “The account has been permanently suspended after repeated violations of our rules against hateful conduct and platform manipulation.”

Twitter defines platform manipulation as “using Twitter to engage in bulk, aggressive, or deceptive activity that misleads others and/or disrupts their experience”.

This includes “coordinated activity, that attempts to artificially influence conversations through the use of multiple accounts, fake accounts, automation and/or scripting”, and “inauthentic engagements, that attempt to make accounts or content appear more popular or active than they are.”

Graham Linehan turns to Mumsnet for help

In the wake of the suspension Linehan turned to the parenting forum Mumsnet, asking users to spread the word that it was “malicious reporting from the usual suspects” that got him suspended.

“I’m really sorry to barge in on you Mumsnettters with my problems, but I’ve been finally suspended from Twitter and I have a feeling they’re either going to ban me or just take my verified tick,” he wrote at 3.16am on Saturday morning.

“I’ve submitted an appeal with Twitter and the Better Business Bureau but I thought I’d post here too so people knew what was going on.”

He went on to defend his use of the term “grooming”, insisting that he was continuing to use it because he believes that “gender ideology is a form of societal grooming”.

The post has now been hidden on the thread after it was inundated with replies – some supporting Linehan, and others calling him out.

LGBT+ community welcome Linehan’s suspension

In recent years Graham Linehan has become one of the loudest voices against trans rights, which he persistently frames as a threat to women and children.

In February he appeared on Newsnight and compared doctors treating trans youth to Nazis experimenting on children in concentration camps during the Holocaust. The shocking interview saw the BBC inundated with complaints and Linehan condemned by the UK’s special envoy for Holocaust issues.

Linehan stood by his comments, and by April he had shifted his focus to sexual orientation as he declared pansexuality to be “bollocks”.

His time on Twitter was characterised by his frequent attacks against transgender people, in particular trans women, who were repeatedly subjected to verbal abuse, harassment and misgendering.

The news of his suspension is being widely celebrated by LGBT+ people and allies alike, many of whom had long called for Twitter to action against him.

 

 

 

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