Twitter Removes Block On Pro

Those who want to share a petition calling on A&E to immediately restore Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson are finding Twitter is blocking sharing the URL to the petition site as either unsafe, spammy or being malware.

Faith Driven Consumer, the organization behind the petition at IStandWithPhil.com, tweeted about the block, ironcially, though its own @FaithConsumer Twitter account:

@Twitter blocks users from tweeting istandwithphil . com. Visit http://t.co/0xqYenfnJd for more. #IStandWithPhil pic.twitter.com/8Kdtp9xbbP

- FaithDrivenConsumer (@FaithConsumer) December 23, 2013

The organization linked to a page where it explains that tweets with IStandWithPhil.com are being flagged as having 'spammy or unsafe content.'

Here's how it looks when I tried sharing through Twitter for Mac:

In that case, I was told 'Status contains malware.' When I tried sharing through Twitter's web site, I got a message saying that a URL in the tweet 'appears to link to a page that has spammy or unsafe content,' as shown below:

The Wrap has an article that explains a bit more, showing a message that Twitter apparently provided to Faith Consumer explaining that it should use a Google tool to determine if the site has been flagged as being unsafe. The message goes on to say that even if the Google tool reports the site as safe, Twitter might still decide a site is unsafe for apparently other reasons.

As the site isn't flagged by Google, this appears to be solely down to some issue Twitter is having. Presumably, Twitter is checking on it. We've also asked Twitter about the issue and will post more, if we hear.

Many on Twitter are expressing upset. A search for '#istandwithphil' on Twitter is bringing up several tweets per minute from those specifically wanting the block lifted:

An alternative URL for the petition, http://www.faithdrivenconsumer.com/istandwithphil, isn't being blocked. So, the problem seems to be related specifically to the istandwithphil.com domain.

The petition is nearing its 200,000 signature goal. Faith Consumer also says this is the third major shutdown of a pro-Phil Robertson social media account but doesn't say what the other two were. And, technically, this isn't a shutdown of a social media account. It's Twitter blocking a URL - which doesn't look good - but Twitter hasn't blocked the account behind the URL, Faith Consumer, at all.

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Top News | Twitter