Over a week ago, the Soska twins were suspended for posting the festival banner above (containing an image from their Rabid remake). It is an image of the main character, whose face is shown badly injured from an automobile accident (with the magic of special effects and prosthetics). It is an image that had been tweeted and posted by many others, including the FrightFest film festival, Fangoria, and Rue Morgue magazine. Just after the suspension, Space Jockey Reviews Editor in Chief Chris Rennirt had hopeful thoughts about the cause of the Soska twins’ suspension: “Perhaps an overzealous worker in the censor department made the decision,” he wrote. “Perhaps it’s not company policy to be punitive for such petty reasons.”
This image (thanks to the awesomeness of Master FX) gets the twins suspended from Twitter.
As of today, Space Jockey Reviews is certain that the suspension is not only intentional, but also biased and rank with the stench of censorship, apparently policy-based as well. Twitter has certainly had time to be well aware of the suspension at all levels of management, with time enough to fact check and correct any simple mistake that could have been made. The chance of an “overzealous worker” pushing a suspension button are now zero. Further, Twitter has provided evidence that they are not only officially enforcing the suspension, but are also keeping it effective for an unknown amount of time longer. All hope for any fair, unbiased behavior from Twitter is either lost or far too late in coming!
Below is the first notice the Soska sisters received from Twitter about their Rabid remake image, over a week ago:
Of course, the Soska’s appealed the decision more than once. On July 18th they finally received a response from Twitter, stating that their account will continue to be suspended for an “allotted time.”
Can information be more vague, uninformative and/or unrelated to the issue as this? No! This response sets a high bar for bovine scatology – commonly known as bullshit! It leaves a grey area for biased interpretations a mile wide. What exactly is “sensitive” content? The meaning of the term is not universally defined. Search for “sensitive content” on Google, and most results refer to Twitter’s use of it. Look at the definition Twitter provides and it is not specific. Without a communicated meaning, with specific examples, management’s likely intent to selectively implement bias is suspect.
Of course, the general, implied meaning of “sensitive content” is that which may offend or upset others. But, should we need to make deductions and guess what Twitter considers offensive or upsetting? Just today, on Twitter, we saw an animated GIF video of a woman sucking on a banana, eventually swallowing most of it, as if she were performing oral sex. Although this would certainly offend many people (and be considered pornography by some), the post remains on Twitter now. Recently, we also saw an image of a human anus (and not in a medical or public-service context of any kind – if that would even matter). And those are only two examples of “sensitive content” (from countless others, posted regularly) that Twitter apparently tolerates.
Is the Twins’ “sensitive” image identified, just as vaguely here, as “graphic violence”? If so, how is it different from the countless, far worse images posted every day on Twitter? The multitudes of horror accounts post images of blatant blood and gore regularly, with no consequences we’ve seen. How is the image the Twins posted different from the same image published by Rue Morgue and Fangoria magazines, as well as by countless other twitter members supporting the Soskas? Clearly, the only difference is with the reaction from Twitter toward the Soskas and the punishment dispensed.
Again, is Twitter trying to keep the “grey area” for biased policy interpretations wide open? Sensitive content could be anything. It could be anything that upsets or offends anyone. It could be anything that those who dislike you choose to complain about and say, “That upsets me!” It could be anything Twitter decides is offensive to them, in order to suspend whoever they choose. Perhaps this is exactly what happened to the Soskas.
Another stinking piece of noninformation is with the term “allotted time.” What is that? Exactly how much suspension time is allotted for the said offense? Does Twitter even have an official timetable to follow, for everyone, without bias. Why aren’t standard suspension times for “sensitive content” offenses posted online to insure fairness and consistency of suspensions? Or, is it dangerously up to individuals (who may not like you) to determine? Wow! What a foul-smelling piece of excrement this is? If anything, Twitter most certainly underestimates public sensitivity to their biases and noninformation.
As for unrelated information in the letter from Twitter, what “hateful content” was in the festival banner posted by the twins? None! Zero! Not an ounce of it! Either this is a form letter that routinely (and stupidly) provides unrelated information, or Twitter does, in fact, consider something about the image to also be “hateful.” Assuming that Twitter knows what they wrote and means it, they assert that the movie image (of a woman with a special effects facial injury) is also somehow hateful. Bullshit again…stinking again, just as much or more! We won’t even waste time trying to dream up ways the image could be “hateful.” However, it looks like Twitter did!
Perhaps the final and most vague reason of all is Twitter’s statement that the ambiguous “sensitive content” is prohibited to make sure “people feel safe.” Since everything on Twitter could make someone feel unsafe, the whole platform should just fold and announce its end right now. There are already a huge number of people who feel “unsafe” that their freedoms of speech and freedoms of expression are being taken away by a bullying, biased social-media platform! What hypocrisy!
Sylvia Soska posted the following response to the Twitter notice posted above, on Facebook, the day she receive it – July 18th, 2019:
“Quite annoyed with how Twitter ruined a week of promoting our film, Rabid, with a suspension for sharing the FrightFest banner of our World Premiere. I’ve been appealing it and received four messages saying its staying suspended, but THIS MORNING, received a new message saying it’s suspended still for this time. Not sure what the difference is, but I’m pissed. Two filmmakers that worked their way from the ground up, advertising their fifth and most important film – the remake of Mr Cronenberg’s Rabid, and now we get silenced while other studio and marketing campaign directors get bought stories and press selling them, we can’t even talk about our work now.”
“To everyone making noise – please continue because I think it is working. I am going to file another appeal. Shameful that this is what we are talking about instead of the film.”
“Also, what message are you sending to people with facial damage that does not fit the sold narrative of beauty? I think Rose looks the most beautiful in that makeup, I think we need to stop letting hundred billion dollar ‘beauty’ enterprises tell us what is beautiful and what is not. Please pass it on to your friends who don’t support censorship of the arts.”
Of course, Space Jockey Reviews totally sympathizes with and supports Jen & Sylvia Soska. We will continue to do our part in passing the message on and pointing out Twitter’s bias toward specific individuals and vagrant censorship of the arts in general. What has affected the Soskas is more than unfair. It’s utterly dangerous that so much power to discriminate is given, with impunity, to such a biased social media platform. As the twins reasonably ask, please do what you can to help!
UPDATE: As of July 19, 2019, Space Jockey Reviews has gotten word that the Soska Twins’ suspension from Twitter is said to be “permanent.” If the decision in not reversed, Twitter’s dispensation of unfairness, bias, and injustice apparently has no limits!
For more SJR news and stories related to the Soska twins, their RABID remake and the suspension, check out the links below:
Jen & Sylvia Soska Get Suspended from Twitter for Posting Images from Rabid Remake
