Twitter Bans Fan Account For Joe Biden's Pets... Didn't Realize They'd Messed With Top Media Law Boutique
Sometimes being a lawyer can be a lot of fun.
Champ Biden in repose. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Twitter wildly oscillates between the disgraceful underpolicing of their platform and the disgraceful overpolicing of their platform. While some folks were given years-long leashes to peddle violent and degrading rhetoric in violation of community guidelines, others get sent to Twitter jail for complete nonsense. It’s the fundamental problem with moderation at scale and Twitter can’t be blamed for making the occasional mistake along the way, but when they keep doubling down on their errors it’s a doggone shame.
If you bristled at that sly word choice, then you probably don’t want to read Clare Locke’s new letter to Twitter. Or more accurately, Gipper Locke’s letter to Twitter, because the Fox Red Labrador Retriever took on this letter himself. He is a Juris Dog-tor after all.
Mitigating M&A Cyber Risk: Pre- & Post-Acquisition Due Diligence
TheOvalPawffice is a Twitter handle explicitly designated as a fan page for Joe Biden’s dogs Champ and Major and cat Winston. The bio couldn’t be more clear that it is not “pawfficially affiliated with the #WhiteHouse,” and yet Twitter suspended the account on Sunday night as an improper impersonation account. But Twitter’s rules are pretty straightforward on this and accounts fit the acceptable definition of fan accounts, as opposed to impersonations, if they include words in the bio such as “fan page” or disclaimers that they aren’t officially affiliated with the subject of the fandom. Is Twitter getting tripped up on “pawfficially”? Perhaps that’s for the best… the day that algorithms recognize puns is truly the day that humanity is lost.
Twitter restored the account briefly before dinging it again in an email that said, “[w]e’re writing to let you know that your account has been suspended due to multiple or repeat violations of our rules. Please do not reply to this email, or send us new appeals for this account as we won’t monitor them.” That spurred Gipper Locke to write directly to Twitter’s GC Sean Edgett.
Twitter’s email didn’t provide any de-tails about how @TheOvalPawffice supposedly violated Twitter’s Impersonation Pawlicy, but it seemed like the email must have been a mistake. After all, it’s impawsible to think that anyone could be confused and think that @TheOvalPawffice was actually being operated by a dog! (I mean, we don’t even have thumbs!) And it’s equally far-fetched to think that @TheOvalPawffice was affiliated with or run by the White House, because the account makes clear in its bio that it is “the **FAN PAGE** for #Champ, #Major & #Winston Biden,” and is “NOT pawficially affiliated with the #WhiteHouse.”
There is such an impressive commitment to dog puns in the four-page letter. One can only hope that this offered the firm a light-hearted respite from representing Dominion in history’s most slam dunk defamation cases.
Sponsored
New Report - Are Small Firms Achieving Their Legal Tech Goals?
Attention Buyer: Not All Legal AI Models Are Created Equal
How To Maximize Productivity With Westlaw Precision With CoCounsel
How To Maximize Productivity With Westlaw Precision With CoCounsel
The worst part about this ludicrous suspension is that TheOvalPawffice account isn’t just posting cute pictures of the presidential pets — it’s doing real charity work. Through its associated website, the account raises money for animal charities. Way to go Twitter, you hate animals now.
As such, we trust that Twitter will throw us a bone, act promptly, and restore the @TheOvalPawffice account. My client is not demanding a grandiose a-paw-logy or threatening to let slip the dogs of war. They recognize that mistakes happen, and there’s no need to terrier self up about ‘em or fight like cats and dogs about it. But they do ask fur their account to be taken out of the dog house and reinstated. Your assistance would be much pup-preciated.
Hopefully Twitter will see the error of their ways and restore the account soon. After all, there’s no viable alternative site for TheOvalPawffice to spread its message.
Especially now that Purrler is gone.
(Full hilarious letter on the next page…)
Sponsored
Mitigating M&A Cyber Risk: Pre- & Post-Acquisition Due Diligence
The Ethical use of Generative AI
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
