Questions begin to buzz on the true character of Indiana Representative, Jim Banks, after remarks on his Twitter account led to him breaking Twitter’s hateful conduct policy and his account being suspended.
According to CBS News, Banks misgendered Dr. Rachel Levine, who was recently honored as the first openly transgender four-star health government official. More specifically, admiral for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He specifically defended the concept of the honor being misplaced stating that the honor had been “taken by a man.”
Banks also called wrongful censorship of the issue after the suspension of his account in a statement to the Indianapolis Star saying, “If they silence me, they will silence you. We can’t allow for Big Tech to prevent us from telling the truth.”
The term “Big Tech” refers to companies that are in a specific bracket that gives them strong influence in the media arena.
Twitter’s hateful conduct policy specifically supports the notion of not tolerating the attacks, violence, or threats against others in regards to race, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, or gender identity.
After a heavy emphasis has been recently implemented on using proper pronouns when addressing others and the strength emerging from the LGBTQIA community in their movement towards equality, many found the Representative’s comments to be offensive and disrespectful.
Twitter-sphere members responded to the issue in support of Twitter’s decision. Meanwhile, other political figures sided with Rep. Jim Banks and his position on the situation.
Since this issue arose, Rep. Jim Banks took to his personal Twitter account and stood by his previously made statement. Not only did he stand by it, but he also stated this in support of his statement:
“Twitter has suspended my official account for posting a statement of FACT. I won’t back down. I’ll be posting on my personal account for the time being…. Big Tech must be held accountable.”
Rep. Jim Banks, 3rd Congressional District of Indiana
Rep. Jim Banks will not regain access to his professional Twitter account until the original tweet is deleted, according to Twitter’s hateful conduct policy which can be found here.
So what happens now?
The question on the table now is– how should politicians address things that they do not personally agree with? Should they respond to things at all? What is the proper response to situations like this?