The account of Twitter user “Ricky Vaughn,” one of the most prominent members of the Alt-Right and a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, was suspended Wednesday.
Ricky Vaughn is the name of Charlie Sheen’s character in the movie “Major League,” and the Twitter account went by this pseudonym. Vaughn gained so much prominence that MIT named him the 107th most influential Twitter account on the election.
Vaughn supported white nationalism and posted anti-Semitic content on his Twitter. A Twitter spokesman told The Daily Caller, “We don’t comment on individual accounts but you can review our Rules.”
Twitter’s rules state accounts can’t engage in violent threats, targeted harassment, or hateful content.
“You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease,” the site’s section on hateful content states. “We also do not allow accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others on the basis of these categories.”
Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey previously said, “Twitter stands for freedom of expression. We stand for speaking truth to power. And we stand for empowering dialogue.”
Dorsey also told The New Yorker, “I like technology that is unbiased.”
Vaughn isn’t the first supporter of the Alt-Right to face trouble on the social media platform, Breitbart editor and Trump supporter Milo Yiannopoulos was suspended from Twitter on July 19, and his account has yet to be reinstated. Following Vaughn’s suspension, #FreeRicky was a top top trending topic on Twitter in the United States.
