Pro-Trump Meme Creator Banned by Twitter Challenges ‘Legal Standing’ Behind Action
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A pro-Trump meme creator suspended by Twitter said Wednesday that he has fulfilled the conditions to have his account reinstated, but that Twitter is refusing to comply.
The man, a Kansas resident who goes by the online pseudonym “Carpe Donktum,” was suspended from the platform on June 23 for “multiple copyright violations.” He said in a post published on Parler that he had filed seven counter-notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act contesting “the legitimacy of the original takedowns.”
He pointed out that Twitter’s terms of service allow for each strike to be removed after a counter-claim is filed, but said the company had failed to acknowledge his compliance. “Twitter has not responded and has no legal standing to keep my account suspended,” he said.
In a statement to Mediaite, a spokesman for Twitter said: “We respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorized representatives. The account was permanently suspended for repeated violations of this policy.”
It’s time for Carpedonktum to return to Twitter. The Twitter Terms of Service agree. pic.twitter.com/Ft37eRvkib
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) August 5, 2020
President Donald Trump often shared content from Carpe Donktum until Twitter permanently suspended his account in June, citing a video he made featuring a fake CNN logo at the bottom. The video mocking the network featured two toddlers and the text, “Terrified toddler runs away from racist baby.” The text later changed to say, “Racist baby probably a Trump voter.”
He maintained in a statement at the time that he had complied with Twitter’s guidelines and noted Twitter had refused to communicate with him — despite providing statements about the issue to some media outlets. “I have ALWAYS complied with DMCA takedown rules, and I have submitted counterclaims when necessary, but I have NEVER uploaded content that has been removed. I have abided by the community guidelines, and followed the rules. It doesn’t matter. I have been banned for being effective and they won’t even look me in the eye as they do it.”
Twitter has taken an increasingly aggressive stance on content ahead of the 2020 election. The platform in July suspended the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., for sharing a Breitbart News video about the coronavirus, and in May began labeling tweets from the president that it deemed inaccurate or “violent.” A breach of the platform last month also revealed the existence of a “blacklist” feature that could be applied to either user accounts or to topics in the news that the company allows to “trend,” leading to questions from congressional Republicans.
