#TwitterLockOut Trends as Twitter Strips Conservative Accounts of Thousands of Followers

#TwitterLockOut became the number one trending hashtag on Twitter, Wednesday, after conservatives reported various account sanctions, including the loss of thousands of followers.

Many others were also locked out of their accounts, in what many are claiming to be a crackdown on “bots,” while some accounts recovered a fraction of the lost followers.

Have recovered almost all the followers I lost during the #TwitterLockOut.

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) February 21, 2018

The twitter purge is real. You may have to refollow me after last night if you’re interested in my content. Twitter blocked me from twitter ads last night and purged thousands of followers. Spread the word. #TwitterLockOut @TwitterSupport @jack @twitter

— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) February 21, 2018

Twitter's attack was not just a purge of bot accounts.

Proof: My account was locked.

No reasonable person can say my account is a bot account.

All original content. I hardly even retweet.

This was an attack on Conservatives under the guise of a bot purge.#TwitterLockOut

— Mark "Beto" Pantano (@TheMarkPantano) February 21, 2018

My Twitter account is back to how it was before the #TwitterLockOut, but not everyone is that lucky.

Follow the MAGA folks who comment on my tweets. Grow stronger from this.

Also, please follow @Saccone4PA18 & @JudgeScrenock.#WednesdayWisdom

— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) February 21, 2018

Hello @jack a lot of people are asking about #TwitterLockOut could the company please provide the criteria for erasing followers while folks sleep. I know there is a lot of pressure to be more responsible in curbing certain actions but that shouldn't extend to muting opinions

— Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) February 21, 2018

Make no mistake, this "Russian interference" has been meticulously engineered to stage a pathway towards total political censorship. The liberal establishment knows when they control the information, they control the minds of the masses.#TwitterLockout pic.twitter.com/RhKs8wgrsb

— Mike Tokes (@MikeTokes) February 21, 2018

Twitter: Antifa & Anti-American rhetoric is okay.

Also Twitter: lock out anyone who’s tweeted about God, @realDonaldTrump & country pride/values.

What a joke @jack #Twitterlockout

— Britt McHenry (@BrittMcHenry) February 21, 2018

So I've lost about 1000 followers tonight.

Twitter seems to have been purging alleged bots and fake accounts.

That is a good thing.

BUT seems like many ordinary accounts, especially conservative ones have been taken falsely at same time.

What is going on?#TwitterLockOut

— PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) February 21, 2018

Same thing happened to me @dbongino If they are doing it to you, they are getting more brave and attacking larger conservative accounts. #TwitterLockOut

— Benton Blount (@bentonblount) February 21, 2018

I wasn't powerful enough to have a Russian bot army following me in the first place, but I stand in solidarity with clients and friends who have been muzzled by bogus Twitter-follower-stripping (all the rage among strippers). #twitterlockout

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) February 21, 2018

“Can @Twitter just admit that they HATE conservatives?” asked one user following the crackdown, while commentator John Cardillo claimed some of his followers that were purged “were real people I personally know who never unfollowed my account.”

Can @Twitter just admit that they HATE conservatives? There honestly needs to be an alternative social media site that doesn't blatantly discriminate against users with certain political views. There are no BUTS in free speech!

Twitter should be ashamed. #TwitterLockout

— Raging Gay Conservative (@RagingGayCons) February 21, 2018

Twitter has purged about 21,000 followers of mine over the last 4-5 months.

Several were real people I personally know who never unfollowed my account. #TwitterLockOut

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) February 21, 2018

Meanwhile, left-wing users on the platform celebrated the incident.

If you lost a lot of followers overnight, it means you had a lot of bots. Which means you probably peddle Kremlin BS. SAD! #TwitterLockOut

— John Schindler (@20committee) February 21, 2018

Shoutout to @Twitter for deleting hateful, right wing trolls and bot accounts! #TwitterLockOut

— Luke Waltham (@lukewaltham) February 21, 2018

In January, an undercover Project Veritas investigation revealed several current and former Twitter employees boasting about their persecution of conservatives.

In one secretly recorded video, Twitter engineer Pranay Singh admitted to mass-banning accounts that express interest in God, guns, and America, while others explained Twitter’s shadow banning system, which they claimed was frequently utilized against conservatives and Trump supporters.