Twitter has permanently suspended news aggregator Politics for All for violating the platform’s rules on “manipulation and spam”.
Other associated accounts including News for All and Football for All have also been suspended.
The accounts, which racked up hundreds of thousands of followers, quickly accumulated a vast audience by tweeting the key angle of a story before following it up with a link to the source, which was usually a mainstream news outlet.
Here’s everything we know about the suspensions.
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
Why were the accounts suspended?
There are a number of reasons why people think the accounts may have been removed, but let’s begin with what Twitter has said.
A Twitter spokesperson said the accounts were permanently suspended for violating the platform’s rules on “platform manipulation and spam.”
A Twitter message to the Politics for All team, seen by The Telegraph, said that “artificially amplifying or disrupting conversations through the use of multiple accounts” violates the platform’s rules.
This includes “overlapping accounts” with substantially similar or duplicative content that may interact with each other in a bid to inflate the prominence of a specific tweet or account.
Yet the exact behaviour that led to the suspension of the news aggregator remains unclear.
A Politics for All insider previously told Indy100 they have not been told why the accounts were banned, but expressed that they will be appealing the decision. They added that they are unsure whether the ban will be temporary or permanent.
Media lawyer David Banks said that there may have been copyright issues at play too.
In a Twitter thread, Banks said that as Politics for All would tweet the headline of a story before linking to the source in a second tweet, the first tweet would have garnered the majority of the attention. However, he said if this was the reason for the suspension he would have expected media companies to send cease and desists to Politics for All instead of going through Twitter.
This could possibly be the reason for the suspension - although if news media objected to this behaviour I would have expected cease and desist letters to those running the account to be their first action, rather than going through Twitter.
— David Banks (@DBanksy) January 2, 2022
Cllr Chris Burden said that although aggregators are useful and it’s important that political coverage is made accessible, “their dejargonising strayed too far into decontextualising, and thus misinformation.”
The collapse of “… For All” is a loss and a gain.
— Cllr Chris Burden (@WulfrunianChris) January 2, 2022
There IS useful role for aggregators, and there is a useful role for those which dejargonised politics.
Unfortunately for them, their dejargonising strayed too far into decontextualising, and thus misinformation.
Who ran the accounts?
The first account was set up by Nick Moar, now 19, when he was 17. The Twitter accounts were run by a team of young staff.
According to The Telegraph, Moar is a conservative and pro-Brexit, but aimed for Politics for All to be impartial.
The teenager reportedly became the head of social for The Spectator last year.
How are people reacting to the bans?
The reaction on social media has been mixed.
The Independent’s Tom Peck welcomed the ban, accusing the account of “sensationalism, exaggeration and utterly shameless plagiarism”.
Politics For All, run by 19 year old Nick Moar, became very popular incredibly quickly through sensationalism, exaggeration and utterly shameless plagiarism. A thrill to see the timeless values of British journalism alive in the next generation, even if not welcome on Twitter.
— Tom Peck (@tompeck) January 5, 2022
Former footballer Gary Neville branded the ban a “very dark move”, with Dragon’s Den star Steven Bartlett remarking that it is “one of the shadiest things I’ve ever seen from a social media platform in my entire life.”
So @Twitter has permanently banned @politicsforall . A very dark move. What the hell is going on? #ReinstatePoliticsForAll
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) January 5, 2022
I think the banning of politics for all on twitter is one of the shadiest things I’ve ever seen from a social media platform in my entire life.
— Steven Bartlett (@SteveBartlettSC) January 4, 2022
Knowing the backstory and how and “why” it happened has made me deeply question the integrity of the people at Twitter.
My thoughts:
How have the team at Politics for All themselves reacted?
Speaking to Indy100, an insider said: "The fact that Twitter will allow The Taliban on their platform, but not a simple news aggregator is quite something. We will be appealing this decision."
