INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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Republican congressman Devin Nunes says Twitter isn't enforcing its Terms of
Service
A US politician has accused Twitter and three of its users of running an "orchestrated defamation campaign" against
him.Republican congressman Devin Nunes of California has said that tweets from the parody accounts @DevinNunesMom and @DevinCow violate the
platform's Terms of Service.Their tweets accuse him of federal crimes and describe him engaging in sexual activities with US president
Twitter let it happen because Twitter had (and has) a political agenda", he wrote in a 40-page complaint.He says he has suffered
"substantial insult, humiliation, embarrassment, pain, mental suffering and damage to his reputation" from the Twitter insults
Mr Nunes served as the chair of the US House Intelligence Committee until 2019
He became a controversial figure for his vocal support of President Trump during the investigation into Russian interference in the US
He was also the centre of an investigation of the House Ethics Committee in 2017, after he released a memo claiming that the intelligence
community monitored communications between members of Trump's transition team (of which he was a part)
He was cleared of any wrongdoing
He is now claiming that Twitter "selectively amplified" tweets that attempted to distract him from that investigation.Parody accountsMr
Nunes says that the the accounts @LizMair, @DevinNunesMom and @DevinCow led a coordinated smear campaign against him - although fringe
accounts such as @fireDevinNunes and @DevinGrapes also dished up insults
Tweets from the accounts have accused him of crimes such as obstructing justice and perjury
Some posts have referred to him as "Dirty Devin" and described him engaging in sexual activities with President Trump
Mr Nunes has said that these allegations are false
It isn't uncommon for public figures - particularly politicians - to have to contend with parody accounts
PM Theresa May has inspired @Theresa_May_Not, @TheresaGoogling, @DowningStVogue and @emayji (a play on "emoji")
President Trump has also prompted sarcastic spin-offs mocking his policies, such as @donaltrumparody and @realDonaldTrFan.According to Mr
Nunes, Twitter suspended the @DevinNunesMom account in 2019, before he filed the complaint
The @DevinCow account is still active, and has reached more than 48,000 followers since Mr Nunes filed his complaint on Monday
Although Mr Nunes claims that the @DevinNunesMom account "hijacked Nunes' name" and "falsely impersonated Nunes' mother", Twitter's policies
do not ban parody and fan accounts - so long as the biography and account name clearly indicate that the user is not affiliated to the
In his complaint, Mr Nunes suggests that they are part of a larger conspiracy, and that an investigation will help determine whether members
of the Democratic Party were involved
What is shadow-banningMr Nunes says that Twitter "shadow-banned" his account, using algorithms to make certain posts invisible to other
users.Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey has come under fire from politicians in recent years, including US president Donald Trump, for censoring
In a hearing before US senators in 2018, Mr Dorsey admitted that the company's algorithms inadvertently reduced the visibility of 600,000
accounts - but that the company "does not use political ideology to make decisions"
Although some accounts weren't appearing in search results on the platform, this was due to follower behaviour on the platform, not
Mr Nunes does not describe how Twitter shadow-banned his account in the complaint he filed
Most of the complaint instead focuses on the three accounts that he claims posted defamatory content, and Twitter's failure to enforce its
Twitter Rules and Terms of Service
"Twitter, by its actions, intended to generate and proliferate the false and defamatory statements," he said
