Twitter Deletes SCOTUSblog Twitter Account Briefly Thinking Its Running Of The Trolls Meant It Was Hacked
from the sarcasm-kills-twitter-accounts dept
We've mentioned and linked to the wonderful SCOTUSblog many times in the past, and have even mentioned its annual running of the trolls, in which the site's Twitter account responds sarcastically to people who think that it is the Supreme Court's twitter account, rather than a blog of some journalists and lawyers covering the court. Part of the confusion comes from the fact that the Supreme Court doesn't have its own Twitter feed, combined with Twitter's eagerness to suggest alternate accounts when people are assuming SCOTUS must have a Twitter feed. But, really, a big part of the problem is people tweeting inane things at SCOTUSblog without realizing it's not SCOTUS.This year, however, the running of the trolls event went weird... because Twitter briefly deleted the entire SCOTUSblog Twitter account, perhaps thinking that the snarky responses showed the account had been hacked. Yes, it appears that even Twitter the company may have believed that the SCOTUSblog Twitter account was actually supposed to be SCOTUS itself.
Today we had our annual running of the trolls — wherein we respond to people who direct mostly hateful and sometimes cute things to our @SCOTUSblog account, thinking it is the official Twitter account of the Supreme Court. We’ve done this for several Terms without incident. But this Term, Twitter — probably through some automated system — decided that our account had been hacked. So it kicked us out of our account — thinking we were the hackers — and then blocked all the tweets, so they have disappeared.Eventually Twitter realized its mistake and reinstated the account -- but once again we see the problems when social media sites try to "police" the content on those sites. They are often not in a position to know what is and what is not an appropriate tweet, or if an account has been hacked. And yet, so many people still seem to think that the platforms themselves have some sort of god-like knowledge powers that allow them to magically kill "bad" accounts while leaving good accounts untouched.
Either way, with the account back in good standing, for now, here's just a taste of its trolling. Go to @SCOTUSblog for more. It's too bad the trolling got interrupted though:
One guess MT @backpackingsuit Unsure why this @SCOTUSblog decision on the #4thAmendment is not bigger news
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016
What makes you look dumbest, Bets'? MT @BetsyKerr Nothing makes @SCOTUSblog look dumber than a judge dissenting w/irrelevant opinion.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016
Check ur attitude. We haven't ended capital punishment yet. MT @CaseyMattox_ In a functioning democracy no one would care about @SCOTUSblog
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016
We don't rule "against the Constitution." We twist it however we want. MT @pswise1 @SCOTUSblog Is RACIST &Again Rules Against Constitution
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016
You might S the "eff up." You know we can make Trump president, right? MT @ThePantau Man, @SCOTUSblog is going to eff up this recount, too?
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016
So funny bc we're just flipping coins. Math says we'll eventually get one right MT @somhrd50 @SCOTUSblog always on the wrong side of history
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 27, 2016
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: hacked, running of the trolls, supreme court, trolling, tweets, twitter accounts
Companies: scotusblog, twitter
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Nothing!
Humanity is a shit stained species of bigots and hypocrites. The people oppressed yesterday break free of their oppression and become the oppressors of tomorrow. Just like a pendulum on a loose rope, it swings all sorts of ways. History has proven that every attempt to shut someone up becomes nothing other than state or socially sponsored oppression if effective.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: @ morganwick
besides, it makes a mutable law/regulation/guideline/ TOS/ which can be turned on anyone at anytime, so much the better...
um, are you still expecting fairness and rationality from Empire ? ? ?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Who cares about others.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Headline madness!
Still love you, Techdirt!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Headline madness!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]