A number of women called for a boycott of Twitter on Thursday after the social media platform suspended the account of actress Rose McGowan who sent a series of messages accusing Hollywood elites of covering up Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assaults.
The actress tweeted that actor Ben Affleck was lying about his knowledge of Weinstein’s sexual harassment, called for the board of Weinstein’s company to be dissolved, and wrote that the people who fund and air Weinstein’s films and shows, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, should be looked into. She also tweeted in support of women who have come forward with claims that Weinstein abused them.
McGowan posted a message on Instagram on Thursday morning, Oct. 12, with a screenshot of the suspension message she received from Twitter. Her account would be locked for 12 hours because some of the messages she sent violated Twitter policy, the company wrote. Her account would become unlocked in 12 hours if she deleted the offending messages.
“TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME,” she wrote on Instagram. “THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE.”
While suspended, McGowan can’t send or reply to tweets and is limited to sending direct messages.
It is unclear which messages violated Twitter’s policy. Twitter’s terms of service merit a suspension if a message creates “risk or possible exposure to us,” The New York Times reported. Another part of the terms prohibits behavior that can be described as “harassment” and “hateful conduct.”
Twitter declined to comment to The New York Times on the suspension, saying that they don’t “comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons.”
McGowan was one of eight women who settled lawsuits with Weinstein over sexual assault, the Times reported. Following the Times exposé, Weinstein was fired from the company he co-founded. Meanwhile, both the FBI and the New York Police Department opened investigations, as allegations of assault continued to pile up.
Weinstein is a powerful movie mogul with the power to make or break a career in Hollywood. Up to 30 women have alleged he sexually assaulted them, according to a Daily Mail tally.
Twitter users who heard the news of the suspension called for a one-day boycott on Friday, Oct. 13. Twitter then went public with several messages explaining why McGowan’s account was suspended.
“We have been in touch with Ms. McGowan’s team. We want to explain that her account was temporarily locked because one of her Tweets included a private phone number, which violates of our Terms of Service. The Tweet was removed and her account has been unlocked. We will be clearer about these policies and decisions in the future,” the company wrote in a tweet.
Some people are calling for a boycott of Twitter on Friday, after the service partially suspended actress Rose McGowan for violating its terms and policies.
Despite Twitter saying that McGowan was no longer suspended, she did not send any tweets on Thursday, compared to the dozens she sent on Tuesday and Wednesday.
