Tuesday 5 October 2021

‘Twitter has messed with the wrong soldier’: GOP Senate candidate and Purple Heart veteran Sam Brown fires back at tech giant after it acknowledged it had ‘permanently suspended’ his account in error

 Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown warned 'Twitter has messed with the wrong soldier' after he revealed his account was 'permanently suspended'. 

Brown, who is running in the Republican primary in Nevada in an attempt to usurp the Democrat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto next year, said he woke up on Monday morning to find his Twitter account had been suspended.

Earlier this year, a tweet posted by Brown on 4 July with an image of him standing to attention and saluting in military dress was also flagged by social media's moderators as 'potentially sensitive content'.

Speaking with Fox News on Monday night, Brown launched an assault on the platform, accusing them of censorship and targeting specific voices with whom they disagree.

'Big Tech is waging an all-out attack on conservative voices — using unequally applied 'rules' to censor or suspend anyone they disagree with,' Brown declared.

'I will not back down from this fight - Twitter has messed with the wrong soldier'. 

Former Army captain Sam Brown, who is running in the Republican primary in Nevada, said he woke up on Monday morning to find his Twitter account had been suspended

Former Army captain Sam Brown, who is running in the Republican primary in Nevada, said he woke up on Monday morning to find his Twitter account had been suspended

Speaking with Fox News on Monday night, Brown launched an assault on the platform, accusing them of censorship and targeting specific voices with whom they disagree

Speaking with Fox News on Monday night, Brown launched an assault on the platform, accusing them of censorship and targeting specific voices with whom they disagree

Sam Brown, now a retired Army Captain, served in Afghanistan in 2008
He was severely burned by an IED device in 2008 during his first deployment to Afghanistan

Sam Brown was severely burned by an IED device in 2008 during his first deployment to Afghanistan

Brown reportedly filed an appeal against Twitter's decision after discovering his account had been suspended with no explanation or evidence as to which tweets had triggered the ban.

The Republican candidate said Twitter responded with an automatic email informing him his appeal request was received, but offered no further explanation as his account remained inaccessible for several hours.

'Big Tech knows their days of one-sided censorship and divisive influence are numbered with conservative voices like me in the Senate,' he told Fox News

It's not the first time that Twitter has interfered with Brown's account. 

On 4 July, a tweet he posted showing an image of him saluting in military dress was flagged as containing 'potentially sensitive content', as was the launch video with which he hoped to kickstart his campaign for the Senate.


The Republican candidate (left) said Twitter responded with an automatic email informing him his appeal request was received, but offered no further explanation as his account remained inaccessible for several hours

The Republican candidate (left) said Twitter responded with an automatic email informing him his appeal request was received, but offered no further explanation as his account remained inaccessible for several hours

Brown, who was badly burned in an Afghanistan IED blast, slammed Twitter for flagging his July 4 post of him saluting in uniform as 'potentially sensitive content' (the tweet above)

Brown, who was badly burned in an Afghanistan IED blast, slammed Twitter for flagging his July 4 post of him saluting in uniform as 'potentially sensitive content' (the tweet above)

Brown believes his tweet was flagged by the social media platform because of his appearance which was drastically altered after he sustained considerable burns from an IED explosion during his first deployment to Afghanistan in 2008.

At the time, Brown slammed the social media giant and accused it of deplatforming voices at odds with its political views.

'Hey @Twitter, I didn't realize my face was 'sensitive content',' he tweeted, sharing a grab of the tweet with the warning.

'Ironic considering I only have 3 tweets & just filed to run for U.S. Senate only hours ago.   

'What Twitter is doing to me is what they've been doing to others for quite some time,' said Brown in a July interview with Fox News. 

'This is a pattern that I think is an undeniable attack against conservative voices who are just trying to share our ideas, our concerns, our solutions and honestly our inspiration with all Americans.

'It's tragic that a Big Tech company is allowed to really depress our ability to share those messages with people who desperately need hope at a time when Americans have been crushed by these policies, by the laws and regulations of elected and unelected officials.' 

While the tweet itself was not restricted, the photo was slapped with a warning reading: 'The following media includes potentially sensitive content.' 

A Twitter spokesperson told DailyMail.com the tweet 'was marked as sensitive because of the media settings of the user, not because of any action on the part of Twitter.' 

On 4 July, a tweet he posted showing an image of him saluting in military dress was flagged as containing 'potentially sensitive content', as was the launch video with which he hoped to kickstart his campaign for the Senate

On 4 July, a tweet he posted showing an image of him saluting in military dress was flagged as containing 'potentially sensitive content', as was the launch video with which he hoped to kickstart his campaign for the Senate

'As someone who has been targeted multiple times by Twitter's censorship regime, this issue is now personal to me: it's clear that decisive action must be taken immediately to rein in Big Tech,' said Brown

'As someone who has been targeted multiple times by Twitter's censorship regime, this issue is now personal to me: it's clear that decisive action must be taken immediately to rein in Big Tech,' said Brown

On Monday, Brown shared an email he received from Twitter with Fox News, which eventually provided a partial explanation as to why his account was suspended for the day.

'We're writing to let you know that we've unsuspended your account. We're sorry for the inconvenience and hope to see you back on Twitter soon,' the email read.

Twitter added, 'A little back background: we have systems that find and remove multiple automated spam accounts in bulk, and yours was flagged as spam by mistake. Please note that it make take an hour or so for your follower and following numbers to return to normal.'

Brown remained steadfast in his criticism of Twitter, and declared that steps must be taken to limit the level of power enjoyed by the heads of social media firms and the 'censorship' present on the platforms. 

'As someone who has been targeted multiple times by Twitter's censorship regime, this issue is now personal to me: it's clear that decisive action must be taken immediately to rein in Big Tech and the partisan elites who run them,' Brown told Fox News.

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