A manifestation of Generation Identity, a tiny group on the far right. - MATTHIEU ALEXANDRE / AFP

Twitter has decided to clean up. Several accounts of the far-right Generation Identity (GI) movement have been closed by Twitter since Friday, July 10. The main executives and personalities of the group were thus excluded in recent days from the social network: Romain Espino, Thaïs d'Escufon, Anaïs Lignier, Clément Martin, but also the accounts of the group's local sections, such as Génération identitaire Paris or Lyon.

Accounts in the name of the group in French, German or Dutch are also no longer accessible, just like that of "Defend Europe", used to relay the group's anti-migrant operations, such as the blockades carried out in the Alps in spring 2018.

#TweetDeService
Twitter refuses to continue giving a platform to the comments of #generationidentitaire
🚪🧹🪠 pic.twitter.com/w0B3dpPYyA

- Sleeping Giants FR (@slpng_giants_fr) July 10, 2020

Twitter has not explained the reasons for the serial deletions. But the objective of the social network is clear: to show that it changes its attitude towards hate messages online. The platform is indeed regularly criticized for its lax practices in terms of moderation. But in recent months, the social network has changed some of its rules. A few weeks ago, Twitter thus masked for the first time a message from Donald Trump who, according to the platform, made an “apology for violence”.

An "ideological censorship"

Génération Identitaire considered that these account deletions constituted "ideological censorship". On its official website, the group says it has mandated a lawyer to file a complaint and has indicated that proceedings will be launched against the social network to "restore the deleted accounts".

Group leaders, and some close personalities, also announced that they were migrating to other platforms. Several of them, including Thaïs d'Escufon, have joined the “Talking” application, on which racist, anti-Semitic, conspiratorial and violent comments are very present. This new microblogging network, which looks a lot like Twitter, says it wants to promote "freedom of expression" and fight against "technofascism".

By the Web

A selfie of Identity Generation activists taken in a vilified police vehicle on social networks

By the Web

Identity generation, "it is a training school to join the National Front"

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