Twitter has banned users from displaying the Star of David in their profile pictures.
In the latter part of July 2020, some Twitter users began complaining that the social media platform was disabling accounts that used depictions of the six-pointed Star of David, a symbol of Judaism, branding such usage to be a display of 'hateful imagery:' Just changed my background to that of @Racharley77's icon photo. She was blocked by Twitter for 'hateful imagery' - a cute cartoon character and a #starofdavid. I also updated my profile - added a special hashtag to define the outrage. #AmYisraelChai - #TwitterSucks!! pic.twitter.com/hbVvnDnQSe - Jay Engelmayer (@jengelmayer) July 21, 2020 Arutz Sheva reported of the issue that: Twitter has now taken it a step too far. It is forcing Jews to take off any and all profile pictures with the Star of David in them. It will report the violation as 'hateful imagery.' At first, I couldn't believe this was happening. That it was a one-time mistake. That was until people sent me multiple screen shots of the same Twitter violation sent to them over having a Jewish Star of David in their profile pictures and [said] that this has happened before. We are unsure if anti-Zionists are reporting these profile pictures to twitter, or if twitter is finding them by itself. Either way, someone on the twitter team is deeming the Star of David hateful imagery and forcing users to take their pictures down if they want to continue to use their platforms. Twitter explained via their Public Policy account that they had not intended to interfere with all depictions of the Star of David - specifically only those reminiscent of the yellow stars and badges used to identify Jews in Nazi Germany, symbols which are often employed in the modern era by anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi groups in a manner that violates Twitter's Hateful Conduct Policy: We want to clarify some questions about hateful imagery on Twitter. We categorically do not consider the Star of David as a hateful symbol or hateful image. We have for some time seen the 'yellow star' or 'yellow badge' symbol being used by those seeking to target Jewish people. - Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) July 22, 2020 This is a violation of the Twitter Rules, and our Hateful Conduct Policy prohibits the promotion of violence against - or threats of attack towards - people on the basis of categories such as religious affiliation, race and ethnic origin https://t.co/LWewatWedr - Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) July 22, 2020 However, according to the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), Twitter was 'locking the accounts of users who display' the Star of David in their profiles even when such usage was not in violation of Twitter's policies: Twitter has deemed the Star of David, a symbol of Judaism and Jewish pride, to be 'hateful imagery', and is locking the accounts of users who display it. Several Twitter users have contacted Campaign Against Antisemitism in recent days reporting that their accounts have been locked, and Twitter has provided the following rationale: 'What happened? We have determined that this account violated the Twitter Rules. Specifically for: Violating our rules against posting hateful imagery. You may not use hateful images or symbols in your profile image or profile header. As a result, we have locked your account.' The social media platform advises users that if they delete the 'hateful imagery', i.e. the Star of David, the account may be unlocked. The Stars of David in the profile pictures of locked accounts vary from artistic blue Stars of David and graffitied white Stars of David to, most ironically, a portfolio of yellow Stars of David. Arutz Sheva and others also stated that Twitter appeared to be taking action against accounts displaying the Star of David in ways that did not constitute 'hateful conduct': The only time twitter mentions in its rules that A Star of David is considered hateful is [in] 'images altered to include hateful symbols or references to a mass murder that targeted a protected category, e.g., manipulating images of individuals to include yellow Star of David badges, in reference to the Holocaust.' None of the users that were considered 'in violation' of their rules had such a star. There's also a fine print in the twitter rules that allows exceptions if it is for educational purposes. In no way did anyone violate the rules, but they have been punished for using a symbol that has such heartfelt meaning to the Jewish people. Twitter admitted they had erroneously taken action against some accounts displaying the Star of David, but that those instances were mistakes and had since been rectified: While the majority of cases were correctly actioned, some accounts highlighted recently were mistakes and have now been restored. We're grateful to @antisemitism @ADL @CST_UK and others for bringing this to our attention and for their partnership in tackling antisemitism. - Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) July 22, 
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