Candace Owens locked out of Twitter for encouraging Michigan revolt
'They are not going to arrest 10,000,000 people for going to work,' the controversial right-wing personality tweeted
Conservative personality Candace Owens has been locked out of Twitter over a post on Saturday that encouraged Michigan residents to defy Gov. Gretchen Whitmer‘s lockdown order that was set in place to guard against the coronavirus.
“Apparently @GovWhitmer believes she is a duly elected dictator of a socialist country. The people of Michigan need to stand up to her,” Owens, who has 2.2 million followers, tweeted to multiple right-wing accounts on Twitter, according to Mediaite.
READ MORE: Candace Owens claims she’s never had ‘race issues,’ but apparently has selective amnesia
“Open your businesses. Go to work. The police think she’s crazy too. They are not going to arrest 10,000,000 people for going to work.”
(Photo: Screengrab via Mediaite)
Owens’s call to action was declared a policy violation and the tweet was subsequently removed from the frequent Fox News guest’s Twitter page. What’s more, the social platform also temporarily barred Owens from the site.
It is not clear what social media policy Owens specifically violated, however, a notice from Twitter explains that if a tweet is found to be a violation and the author of the tweet does not voluntarily delete it, the company will hide it.
“The account will remain locked until the Tweet is removed,” according to Twitter’s help center.
READ MORE: Black Panthers trend as Twitter notes #WhitePrivilege in Michigan protests
After getting locked out, Owens released a statement on the matter to the right-wing blog The Gateway Pundit.
Candace Owens of Turning Point USA is sworn in before testifying during a House Judiciary Committee hearing discussing hate crimes and the rise of white nationalism on Capitol Hill on April 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
“Twitter has locked me out of my account but has decided to omit which of their policies I have violated. Apparently, encouraging citizens to go to work is a violation, but Alexandria Ocasión Cortez encouraging workers to boycott and protest is not,” Owens said.
“I stand by my statement about Governor Whitmer acting as a dictator. Both the Sherriff Departments and the citizens, and the state legislature of Michigan are in agreement with me. I will not kowtow to a socialist world order that seeks to limit my constitutional freedom of speech.”
READ MORE: Candace Owens verbally attacks Meghan Markle, calling her a ‘witch’
Twitter’s decision to lockout Owens infuriated conservatives and prompted them to come to her defense using the trending hashtag #FreeCandace. Critics of Owens who believe her suspension was justified also used the hashtag to push back against her defenders.
See some of the reactions below:
RT it you stand with Candace Owens! Chinese Communist Party propaganda accounts reign free to tweet their garbage yet they ban @RealCandaceO.
Reinstate!
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 2, 2020
clicking #freecandace because your happy ass thought candace owens went to prison but then you find out she only got suspended from twitter pic.twitter.com/okyBwPqWnM
— blue befunie bateest 💙 (@StorySorcery) May 2, 2020
🚨ALERT🚨
Candace Owens has been suspended from Twitter.
Candace tweeted that people in Michigan should go back to work.
What rule did she break?
Not even Twitter can say.Candace Owens tells people to work and gets cancelled but AOC can tell people *not* to work and all good pic.twitter.com/4tCH3ibUcW
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 2, 2020
Twitter: #FreeCandace
Black Twitter: pic.twitter.com/GiYtrFlded
— You Know the vibes 💯 (@RonnieThaGreat) May 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/rrrramonaaa/status/1256638777499451392
