UPDATE: They’re back. And yes, it was the leaking of Westboro members’ personal info that did it.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: @YourAnonNews, online hacktivist group Anonymous’ most popular Twitter account, has been suspended. It appears to have happened just before noon ET.
Popular but significantly less popular Anonymous account @Anon_Central has published what they say is Twitter’s official reply to the @YourAnonNews account holder – “You may not publish or post other people’s private and confidential information.”
It’s official @Twitter reply : You may not publish or post other people’s private and confidential information. | #YAN#Anonymous
Here’s the applicable portion of the Twitter Rules:
You may not publish or post other people’s private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, street address or Social Security/National Identity numbers, without their express authorization and permission.
It’s possible that the personal information that Anonymous is “guilty” of posting comes from members of the Westboro Baptist Church. The group recently targeted the “church” for their insistence on “protesting” the funerals of the Sandy Hook shooting victims. Anonymous’ operation did involve the leaking of Westboro members’ personal information.
@YourAnonNews planned for this, setting up and backup account @YANBackUp on December 4th:
This account will remain dorment unless: 1. @YourAnonNews gets rate limited. 2. @YourAnonNews gets suspended. – From the #YAN team.
If you want to follow the updates on the situation, they’re the account to follow (along with other Anonymous accounts, to a lesser extent):
#Anonymous, #YAN and its contributors wait to hear from @Twitter. Our ticket number is #6930160.
Free speech is dead.