Twitter just temporarily banned Rose McGowan, one of Harvey Weinstein's accusers


Actress Rose McGowan has been one of the loudest voices in the industry to speak out against Harvey Weinstein after reports that the film mogul allegedly sexually harassed, assaulted, or raped dozens of women over the years. McGowan, who accepted a $100,000 settlement in 1997 from Weinstein over "an episode in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival," was banned from Twitter over her tweets, which included scolding actor Ben Affleck and praising the women who have spoken out, Variety reports:
"Ben Affleck f--- off," McGowan also tweeted after the actor issued a statement against Weinstein while having a history of concerning behavior of his own.
On Thursday, McGowan shared on Twitter that she had been temporarily banned for violating the social media website's rules (her account has apparently since been restored, Gizmodo notes):
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TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME. THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE. #ROSEARMYA post shared by Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) on Oct 11, 2017 at 9:19pm PDT
Twitter has been heavily criticized for not responding more firmly to serial abusers on its platform. While McGowan used strong language in her condemnation of Weinstein and Affleck, being banned after coming to the defense of the abused has already raised further criticism of Twitter.
"Twitter suspended Rose McGowan and just slapped every sexual assault survivor right in the face," wrote one user. The organizers of the Women's March on Washington added: "Women should not be punished for speaking the truth."
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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