The suspension of The National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam’s Twitter account appears to have been triggered by United Kingdom Law Enforcement insisting a factually accurate breaking news tweet was “in violation of UK law.”
Kassam – a British citizen – was suspended on June 23rd for tweeting the following:
According to an email from Twitter’s legal department the: “tweet is in violation of UK law.”
The email also provides no specification as to what law Kassam violated with his tweet, which reads as objective reporting on unfolding violence by a journalist.
Kassam is a four-year-long, dues-paying member of the independent, Chartered Institute of Journalists, the oldest journalists’ association in the world.
Twitter’s email warned of the social media platform’s decision to lock Kassam out of his account, adding: “Please note we may be obligated to take action regarding the content identified in the complaint in the future.”
It remains unclear if further steps will be taken.
The email also raises the question of the nature of Twitter’s relationship with law enforcement agencies around the world, including how it balances demands from countries such as the UK that lack the same free speech protections as the U.S.
And of all the issues plaguing the UK – child grooming gangs, acid attacks, honor killings, and terrorism – why is it choosing to focus on factual reporting on a social media platform?
