On Tuesday, Twitter restricted Senator Steve Daines’s (R-MT) account when he shared a photo of himself and his wife antelope hunting — something he called their “Montana way of life.”
Daines thanked Twitter owner Elon Musk for stepping in to resolve the issue. “I am grateful Elon Musk reached out to me to resolve this issue and am glad that he recognizes that free speech is a bedrock of our country, and acted quickly to reinstate my Twitter account after being made aware of its suspension,” he said.
Twitter initially locked his account for posting a profile image for violating the platform’s “media policy.” even though the policy states that "exceptions may be made for religious sacrifice, food preparation or processing, and hunting." Daines called the ban “preposterous”.
“The initial ban over the profile photo of my wife and me after a successful Montana antelope hunt was disappointing given the fact that it is no different than photos Montanans share on social media every day. It’s our Montana way of life and we are proud of it,” Daines said in his statement. “I am glad Elon Musk recognizes this. The rest of the country benefits from the acceptance of diverse thoughts and values, including Montana values.”
“No Member of Congress should be banned from Twitter if you believe in free speech,” Media Research Center President Brent Bozell tweeted.
Even Musk admitted the censorship was ludicrous.
“This is being fixed,” Musk tweeted. “Policy against showing blood in profile pic is being amended to ‘clearly showing blood without clicking on the profile pic’. The intent is to avoid people being forced to see gruesome profile pics.”
Musk later added, “Going forward, Twitter will be broadly accepting of different values, rather than trying to impose its own specific values on the world.”
Musk’s response arrived after conservative leaders and members of congress voiced their outrage at the egregious censorship and called on Twitter to #FreeSteveDaines.
Twitter did not respond to MRC Free Speech America's request for comment by the time of publication.
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