Twitter Handle: @statomattic
I returned to Twitter this week after being suspended for 2 1/2 months. Twitter did not reinstate my account. Rather, I dropped my appeal. Now, I want to tell you why. Here’s my story of what happened.
On the morning of Aug. 15, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announced he had covid by tweeting this:
“I would like to let you know that I have tested positive for #COVID19. I am thankful to have received four doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and I am feeling well while experiencing very mild symptoms. I am isolating and have started a course of Paxlovid.”
I found the irony of his statement rich, and attempted to add to the hilarity by gently poking fun at Bourla by QT-ing him. Within a few minutes, Twitter gave me a 12-hour soft suspension, meaning I could access my account but could not tweet. Offending tweet in screenshot below.
Matt, Pre-School Diploma.
1) My company created a vaccine, promoted its 95% efficacy with two doses and got it mandated for many people.
2) I received four doses of my company’s vaccine.
3) I got the virus my company’s vaccine was purported to prevent anyway.
4) I am grateful for my company’s vaccine
The suspension was, ostensibly, for tweeting false or misleading information about covid. Twitter gave me the option to either delete the tweet and serve my 12-hour suspension, or appeal. I opted to appeal. I did not want to delete a tweet that was not false, but a harmless joke.
Immediately upon appealing, Twitter locked me out of my account entirely, whereas previously I could still view tweets and send messages. I should note, this is not an “appeal” in the traditional sense. An appeal does not result in a trip to jail where you were previously fined.
Regardless, Twitter “thanked” me for my “appeal” and assured me they would rule on it as soon as possible. Well, they must have been REALLY busy because they never ruled. I mean it, nothing. Twitter let my appeal languish from 8/15 to 10/31, leaving my account locked entirely.
I emailed Twitter Support periodically, at least a half-dozen times over the 2 1/2 months, to request at least an update. Every request met with radio silence. Nothing. Clearly, this in my case was not an appeal but rather a demand for a plea bargain. Delete your tweet, or else.
At any point, I could drop my appeal, delete my tweet, and my account would be restored. I did not want to play Twitter’s game. So I waited, and waited, and waited. My soft suspension of 12 hours became an 1,860 hour hard ban (77 1/2) days. Finally, I decided to drop my appeal.
Why did I drop? Well, it had been 155 TIMES as long as my original ban, but that wasn’t the reason. Ultimately, I decided Twitter was not acting in good faith, and by not dropping my appeal, I was sort of letting them win. So, I dropped, admitting guilt (image attached).
So, yes, I was guilty of violating Twitter’s policy AS TWITTER CHOSE TO ENFORCE IT. Twitter’s enforcement of that policy was arbitrary, childish, punitive to the extreme, and drenched in an absolutely comical amount of overt political bias. By THOSE standards, yeah, I violated it.
My true sin, obviously, was poking fun at a sacred cow. Whether misleading or not, you apparently are not allowed to poke fun that cuts a bit too close to the truth at the CEO of a powerful pharmaceutical company in 2022 America. Okay, so that is the game. But why?
Why should my little joke hurt? Well, little jokes only hurt when they contain uncomfortable truth. And the uncomfortable truth, Al, is that your product sucks. And, at least deep down, whether willing to admit it yet or not, almost everyone in America now knows it.
It’s November 2022. Pfizer announced its covid vaccine had 94% efficacy (later revised to 95%) two full years ago. And, covid is still here! Now, if you want to claim the shot limited symptom severity (at least in the initial strain), that’s fair. But it didn’t end the pandemic.
As such, the vaccine’s benefits were grossly oversold. Its benefits, while not non-existant, are nowhere NEAR the level you would need to reach to merit mandating it as a condition of employment, or for entering a restaurant or entertainment venue. If that level even exists.
Don’t get me wrong, the vaccine was a noble effort. It was developed swiftly. I do not hold a grudge that it didn’t work as well as hoped. What I DO resent is the propaganda. The deceit. The muzzling of any voices that stray from the government/pharmaceutical company line.
Here’s the truth: In the silencing of dissent and the repeated insistence the covid vaccines were a miracle, the US government and social media have done deeper, more lasting damage to the reputation of vaccines and public health than 1,000 Alex Berensons EVER could.
Therein lies the everlasting shame of all this. If your shot is good, fantastic. It will sell itself. Don’t coerce, don’t deceive, don’t cover up unknowns, don’t silence dissent as “misinformation.” Sadly, that ship has sailed.
This is bad for all of us. Very bad. We NEED medicine. We NEED effective vaccines. We need honesty. We need to be able to trust our leaders. It’s a tragedy so much of that is gone. The death of expertise was a suicide. But I do have my voice. As you have yours. Use it wisely.
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