Twitter banned Tim "Treadstone" Gionet,false rape claim sex video more widely known as Baked Alaska, on Wednesday as it continues to rid its site of abuse and harassment.
It was not immediately clear why Gionet was suspended. He had told conservative journalist Joe Biggs that he had not tweeted in two days, according to Biggs.
A Twitter spokesperson told Mashablethe company does not comment on individual comments (as is known) but pointed to Twitter's Hateful Conduct Policy, specifically "repeated and/or or non-consensual slurs, epithets, racist and sexist tropes, or other content that degrades someone."
SEE ALSO: White nationalist Richard Spencer tried to speak in Florida but protesters weren't having itIf that's the case, the account may be permanently suspended. Twitter's new Help Center elaborates that individual tweets can be deleted and the account can remain, but at times, the entire account may be suspended. Baked Alaska is apparently no longer able to tweet, suggesting the latter.
Gionet livestreamed to YouTube shortly after the news broke.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Later in the day, Twitter announced changes to its verification system, and stripped the blue checkmarks from the accounts of white nationalists Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
For those who aren't familiar with Gionet, he's commonly referred to as an alt-right troll. His claims to fame include serving as the manager for Milo Yiannopoulos's college tour. Twitter banned Yiannopoulos (@nero) in July 2016 after he helped incite trolling against actress Leslie Jones. He was also one of the neo-Nazis who visited Charlottesville, Virginia during the Unite The Right rally and was pepper sprayed.
Gionet's Twitter was a place for regular commentary about the "persecution of white people," as Gizmodoaptly described in August. For example, he tweeted about neo-Nazi phrases and images of people in gas chambers. He would also retweet people who suggested "Hitler did nothing wrong," Gizmodo noted.
Gionet had been in the same Uber as white supremacist James Allsup when he was banned from the platform after allegedly making racist remarks, BuzzFeedreported.
Gionet's tweet from that day (since removed but cached in Google) read, "@Uber_Supportwould u like to explain why I was kicked from an uberfor being white, bags thrown & ur driver was speeding with no seatbelt?"
Before hitting the road with Yiannopoulos, Gionet worked at BuzzFeed. In a profile on Business Insider, he shared how he had changed to advocate for alt-right movement and support Donald Trump.
"I had heard … about the dangers of political correctness, but I thought this was just exaggerated," Gionet told Business Insider."I thought there was no way people in real life could be like this."
Gionet did not see the suspension until the head of media outlet Rogue Right Joe Biggs texted him.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Twitter's efforts to curb harassment has gotten more serious in the last year, after more than a decade of Twitter letting neo-Nazis flourish on its platform without much moderation.
Twitter paused its verification program earlier this month after facing backlash for verifying Jason Kessler, the organizer of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville that resulted in the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer. According to Twitter, verification badges aren't meant as an endorsement for something like white supremacy, but clearly, it has been seen as that.
Featured Video For You
Flying taxis could be here by 2020 thanks to Uber