Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
Twitter has suspended hundreds of accounts for spreading claims about a Washington DC “blackout” which never happened.
Amid widespread civil unrest in the US, thousands to tweets using the #DCBlackout hashtag claimed that communications had been blocked in the capital to cripple protests.
But there was no evidence of this.
Twitter also said it had banned an account for inciting violence while impersonating a protest group.
The #DCBlackout hashtag trended on Twitter on Monday, with millions of tweets and retweets claiming that internet and phone communications were cut late in the night as the protests continued.
But reporters covering the protests had no such problems, and Twitter collated several of their tweets into a prominent link in Twitter’s main website sidebar. An internet monitoring service also said there was no indication of any widespread disruption.
A Twitter spokesperson said the social media site had “suspended hundreds of spammy accounts” that used the #DCBlackout hashtag, citing the company’s platform manipulation and spam policies.
