Edward Snowden’s wife Lindsay Mills has called out Elon Musk after being locked out of his Twitter account for sharing a baby photo.
In the photo, Mills appears to be topless and naked holding the baby, but nothing but the baby’s bottom is exposed.
Twitter locked my wife @lsyatrasEven *spineless Instagram* has no problem with their account for an archaic baby photo. Should parents be concerned? Do baby butts, happy bath photos etc deserve a ban now? pic.twitter.com/DtRFdDXuHg
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 18, 2023
“Twitter just locked my wife’s account @lsjourneys for an ancient baby photo that *spineless Instagram* has no problem with. Should parents be concerned? Baby butts, happy bath photos etc deserve a ban now?” Snowden tweeted.
Does this sound like obscenity to you? @ElonMusk? If you have a machine that bans images on a Hallmark card, it’s time to dial up the algorithm.
Just my opinion. https://t.co/3Ixmu6s7bK
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 18, 2023
In another tweet, Snowden wrote, “Does this look like obscenity to you, @ElonMusk ? If you have a machine that bans images on a Hallmark card, it’s time to dial up the algorithm. Just my opinion.”
In a follow-up, Snowden said he was also shadow banned after tweeting the photo.
Looks like Twitter algorithmically shadowbanned (or blackholed) my account for this tweet. No engagement (about 6M followers), not even showing tweet impressions. It is not an immediate, human decision result.
It’s a show-stopper, @elonmusk. crazy https://t.co/dMeVCtgHTM pic.twitter.com/QQIgWTelRj
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 18, 2023
“Twitter appears to have algorithmically shadowbanned (or blackholed) my account for this tweet. No engagement (about 6M followers), not even showing tweet impressions. This is not the result of an immediate, human decision,” Snowden wrote. “This is a show-stopper, @elonmusk . crazy.”
Snowden continued, “Can’t even view the reference tweets for the original post. Indicates that the feed is empty.
It’s wild. where is @TwitterSupport? How many normal people who don’t have my visibility cast their accounts in this kind of shadow field?
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 18, 2023
“This post completely broke my TL. The tweet now shows 800 replies, but when I click ‘view replies’, it only shows 3. Everything else is hidden,” Snowden added. “It’s wild. Where is @TwitterSupport? How many normal people who don’t have my visibility have put their accounts into this kind of shadow empire?
Update: Suddenly I can see all the replies now. Maybe someone is on the case, or maybe the server is plugged back in. My tweet @elonmusk Still has a total of 27 impressions… which is impossible (normal ones have 100Ks-to-millions).
Times are tough in the Twitterverse.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 18, 2023
In a later update, the NSA whistleblower wrote, “Suddenly I can see all the replies now. Maybe someone is on the case, or maybe the server is plugged back in. My tweet to @elonmusk still has a total of 27 impressions… which is impossible (normals have 100ks-to-millions). Times are tough in the Twitterverse.
Mills’ account has since been restored.
