Twitter bans Breitbart tech editor permanently for offensive posts

Fed up with years of repeated violation of Twitter’s terms of service by conservative writer and Breitbart Tech Editor Milo Yiannopoulos, the microblogging site has finally banned his account permanently.

After years of provocative actions, repeated suspensions, and even an unchecking, Twitter finally took the decision in response to Yiannopoulos’s online trolling campaign against Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones. Jones has vowed to leave Twitter over her treatment, prompting a major online outcry.

Post the outcry where many users asked for the ban, Twitter announced earlier on Tuesday that it will open the verification process to the general public, along with the anti-spam and anti-harassment protections the Blue Checkmark enables.

This isn't the first time that Twitter has had to show a prominent celebrity the door. Last March, Chuck Johnson, who once argued that homosexuality caused a horrendous Amtrak train crash and trolled two NY Times journalists, was permanently barred from the site. Reddit, too, has recently cracked down on bad behavior in recent months. The site made headlines last August when it shut down and disbanded a number of its most virulent and bigoted groups.

In a response to the ban, Yiannopoulos wrote, “With the cowardly suspension of my account, Twitter has confirmed itself as a safe space for Muslim terrorists and Black Lives Matter extremists, but a no-go zone for conservatives."

He goes on to write, “Twitter is holding me responsible for the actions of fans and trolls using the special pretzel logic of the left. Where are the Twitter police when Justin Bieber's fans cut themselves on his behalf? Like all acts of the totalitarian regressive left, this will blow up in their faces, netting me more adoring fans. We're winning the culture war, and Twitter just shot themselves in the foot."

He also warned that this is the end for Twitter. “Anyone who cares about free speech has been sent a clear message: you're not welcome on Twitter.”