Paul Graham’s account is suspended by Twitter
On Sunday, Paul Graham’s account was suspended. Graham is a well-known and reputable venture capitalist who has supported Elon Musk’s Twitter activities. The suspension came after Graham tweeted, “This is the last straw.” I give up. You can find a link to my new Mastodon profile on my site.
In his tweet, he called attention to a current Twitter policy that forbids links to alternative social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Post, and Nostr. Additionally, that policy prohibited using strategies to circumvent the restriction, such as using “Instagram dot com/username” to avoid generating an actual link.
Because Graham stated, “You can find a link to my new Mastodon profile on my site,” it looks like his account was suspended. That might be viewed as a workaround by Twitter. Graham’s account was reinstated after Fortune contacted the microblogging site; however, Fortune did not receive a response right away.
Wild. @PaulG got suspended (for *sending folks to his website for a link to his mastadon). This is gonna get really, really interesting. PG is SV royalty. pic.twitter.com/kXTy4V2wIz
— AlexisOhanian7️⃣7️⃣6️⃣ (@alexisohanian) December 18, 2022
I haven’t “quit Twitter,” Graham wrote on Mastodon, a platform that seems to be regularly used as a substitute for Twitter by those frustrated with Musk’s anarchy. Simply put, I don’t want to use it as long as links to other websites are prohibited. Additionally, it felt like a good opportunity to learn more about Mastodon given the state of affairs.
He added, “FWIW, I still hope Elon succeeds with Twitter.” Why wish failure on anyone? But for me, not letting people post links to their other accounts was just too much.
Others also shared their opinions about the ban. Graham’s status was described as “Silicon Valley royalty” by Alexis Ohanian, the founder, and general partner of venture capital company 776. “Wild. @PaulG got suspended (for sending people to his website for a link to his mastodon),” he tweeted on Sunday. This is going to get quite fascinating. The SV rating is PG.