Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
If there is a social media version of creating a rip in the space-time continuum, Twitter found a way to achieve it over the past week-plus when it banned classical liberal commentator and clinical psychiatrist Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, then banned conservative commentator Dave Rubin for discussing the fact that Peterson was banned.
The original ban occurred in late June after Peterson, whose commitment to free speech is unwavering, referred to a noted movie star as Ellen, rather than Elliot, Page.
“Remember when pride was a sin? And Ellen Page just had her breasts removed by a criminal physician,” Peterson wrote in the offending tweet.
Twitter told Peterson his suspension would be lifted if he would self-censor and delete his remarks, but Peterson has stated that he will not do so. Indeed, in a YouTube video, Peterson intimated he “would rather die” that modify his speech.
On June 29, Rubin posted a tweet defending Peterson and criticizing Twitter.
“The insanity continues at Twitter. @jordanbpeterson has been suspended for his tweet about Ellen Page. He just told me he will ‘never’ delete the tweet,” Rubin tweeted.
This tweet lingered for a time, but Tuesday Rubin released a statement, which was shared by conservative commentator and attorney Ben Shapiro, that revealed that Rubin, too, had been suspended.
.@RubinReport has now been suspended for posting news about @jordanbpeterson's suspension, all because we are not allowed to mention that until five minutes ago, Elliott Page, who is very very very male, was a female actress named Ellen Page. Here's Dave's statement: pic.twitter.com/sofdoKZgPX
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 5, 2022
“While it is unclear how I broke [Twitter’s] terms of service, it is clear that they are breaking their fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders by letting a bunch of Woke activists run the company,” Rubin wrote. “I hope Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter goes through so he can blow up their servers and humanity can move past the pervasive, twisted, self-imposed mental institution.”
Shapiro, whose Daily Wire recently added Peterson to their roster of hosts, quipped, “[Rubin] has now been suspended for posting news about @jordanbpeterson’s suspension, all because we are not allowed to mention that until five minutes ago, Elliott Page, who is very very very male, was a female actress named Ellen Page.”
In what has become the norm when Twitter lashes out at non-progressive voices, numerous account holders began calling upon Elon Musk, the presumptive new owner of Twitter, to do something.
Tuesday, Musk officially chimed in, albeit briefly. When a Twitter user asked Musk if he was aware of Peterson’s suspension, Musk replied “Yeah, they’re going way too far in squashing dissenting opinions.”
Yeah, they’re going way too far in squashing dissenting opinions
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2022
As of Wednesday night, Peterson’s tweets up to June 28 are still visible, but there is no trace of the Tweet that caused Twitter such consternation.
Rubin’s account has now been restored after he opted to remove his tweet. However, Rubin did not exactly back down from his original position.
“After much deliberation I have decided to delete the tweet of a screenshot which got me suspended from Twitter,” Rubin wrote. “Elliot Page is a great man who must never be questioned. As for Ellen Page, well, she was less great…”
Embedded in the tweet was a video of Page, then still identifying as a woman, proclaiming to late-night host Stephen Colbert that noted hoaxer Jussie Smollett had been victimized by a hate crime.
For the record, I strongly considered not coming back, and perhaps that is the right move. They will slowly purge anyone who tells the truth, that much is clear. But for now I chose to stay and fight on their territory while we build better products at @onlocals and @rumblevideo.
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) July 6, 2022
Rubin then replied to his tweet with, “Twitter is nothing more than a fun house mirror in which Woke weirdos distort realty via algorithmic tricks, shadowbans and suspensions, so none of us can see a real reflection of truth.”
By late Wednesday evening, Rubin was inviting “any employee at Twitter” to chat with him on the record about the company’s commitment to censorship, and had plugged a stand-up special which he promised would “freak out” the “censorious, hysterical Woke mob.”
Peterson has had numerous run-ins with enumerable entities over compelled or censored speech. He first gained international attention in 2016 when he opposed then refused to comply with a Canadian law that, among other things, compels citizens to honor preferred pronouns.
Famously, Peterson announced on Canadian television that not only would he never obey the law, but would go on a hunger strike if he were jailed for his decision.