Twitter Removes Verification From Reporter Who Interviewed Attkisson and Podcaster Who Interviewed Loomer
Twitter has removed the verification badges from a Mediaite reporter who interviewed Sharyl Attkisson about the Obama administration spying on people and a podcaster who interviewed Florida congressional candidate Laura Loomer.
August Takala, a reporter and editor for Mediaite, tweeted on Monday that he lost his verification badge one hour after he tweeted his interview with former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson on Thursday.
I tweeted this column about the Obama administration spying on journalists at 5:47 Thursday.
Around an hour later, my verification badge magically disappeared.
????? @TwitterSupport @TwitterComms https://t.co/oyP7zJtvd8
— August Takala (@AugustTakala) May 22, 2020
In the article, Takala wrote that “Attkisson has long asserted that the feds wrongfully surveilled her electronic devices from 2011-14, part of an operation tied to her reporting on the Justice Department’s botched “Fast and Furious” gun-running scheme and, later, on the 2012 attack on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya.”
“I would say I may not be one of the first victims, but I am one of the first people who was able to identify myself as a target of illegal spying under the Obama administration,” Attkisson told Mediaite. “I believe many, many others were spied on but do not know. It was only thanks to help from intelligence contacts that I even learned that government agents were spying on me. Otherwise, I never suspected it or would have known.”
Likewise, podcaster Josh LeCash tweeted that he also lost his verification badge shortly after posting his interview with Loomer.
On Saturday, he tweeted “I interviewed Laura Loomer yesterday, and today my Twitter verification badge is gone.”
I interviewed Laura Loomer yesterday, and today my Twitter verification badge is gone.
— Josh Lekach (@joshlecash) May 23, 2020
LeCash has nearly 19,000 Twitter followers and hosts a podcast called “Wrong Opinion.” He was also recently banned from Periscope.
Listen to my podcast episode with Laura on my Patreon for free, and please subscribe. https://t.co/7tXmZ35tbC
— Josh Lekach (@joshlecash) May 23, 2020
It would appear that Twitter is punishing people for speaking to those who are guilty of “wrongthink,” and if so, the fear of interviewing controversial people could have devastating effects on journalism — and for grassroots political candidates.
This will be especially harmful to Loomer, who is running a successful campaign for office despite being silenced across social media and ignored by GOP leadership. If people are afraid to interview her, it will create yet another hurdle for the rising political star to overcome.
“My civil rights are being totally violated and nobody is doing anything about it,” Loomer told the Gateway Pundit in response to LeCash’s tweet.
One of the main platforms that she is running on is stopping social media censorship, which becomes more and more important as big tech companies continue to work to chill free speech and now, apparently, freedom of association and the freedom of press.
We have reached out to Twitter’s press office for comment and will update this if one is made available.
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