O’Rourke parody account, ‘Beto’s Blog,’ banned by Twitter

Twitter has banned a parody account mocking former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Texas), a possible 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, drawing howls from conservative media members.

Fans of “Beto’s Blog” discovered late Tuesday that the account had been suspended. Twitter explained in an email shared by an unidentified woman behind the account that it had been permanently banned, due to deceitful impersonation.

{mosads}”It has come to our attention that your Twitter account is in violation of the Twitter Rules, specifically the policy on impersonation,” the email, which was posted by Twitter user @comfortablysmug, who has more than 110,000 followers, reads.

“Impersonation is pretending to be another entity in order to deceive, and is strictly prohibited,” it continues. “This account has been suspended and will not be restored.”

The decision by Twitter was criticized by some as going too far, while others accused the social media platform of selective enforcement of its terms of service, given that many other parody accounts exist for President Trump.

I guess Twitter’s rules (which don’t seem to be strictly enforced) are that you have to clearly identify the account as parody in the bio/account handle, but why not ask the person running the account to do that instead of shutting them down? https://t.co/B8fS8BO68c

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) January 23, 2019

@Jack applies the same rules unilaterally. pic.twitter.com/YWcG1Kxmlr

— David Swanson (@TheDaveSwanson) January 23, 2019

Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke parody Twitter account @BetosBlog gets permanently banned for “pretending to be another entity in order to deceive” and @Twitter strictly prohibits such accounts… Unless you’re @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/iEx4sQML8N

— Paul Sacca (@Paul_Sacca) January 23, 2019

So the Beto parody blog gets banned but @LouisFarrakhan‘s account is still up, even after posting a video calling Jewish people termites. pic.twitter.com/WN8S3X9Q8e

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 23, 2019

Great to see @jack cleaning up the toxic cesspool. https://t.co/IWMA8KIfLk

— Chris Barron (@ChrisRBarron) January 23, 2019

“Beto’s Blog” was launched on Jan. 17 and appeared to be a reaction to an online viral video that documented O’Rourke’s visit to the dentist.

That Instagram video was mocked by the left and right.

ICYMI: Beto O’Rourke’s latest Instagram video filming his dentist visit highlights his hygienist’s experiences growing up near the U.S.-Mexico border. https://t.co/rmyqAotKPd pic.twitter.com/sSCQn7YrhT

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 13, 2019

“Love me some Beto but this is self-parody territory,” tweeted progressive Ana Marie Cox, the founding editor of Wonkette.

Love me some Beto but this is self-parody territory. https://t.co/xrDuH9ZNny

— ana marie cox (@anamariecox) January 10, 2019

“Beto is so desperate to seem relatable that he posted a video during his dentist appointment,” wrote former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Beto Is So Desperate To Seem Relatable That He Posted A Video During His Dentist Appointment https://t.co/OYXQBa5YdZ

— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) January 11, 2019

The Hill has reached out to Twitter for comment.