Rose McGowan's Temporarily Locked Twitter Account Spurs Hollywood Boycott

Shortly after the Charmed star was temporarily locked from her Twitter account, which the social media platform has since unlocked, the hashtag #WomenBoycott Twitter started trending

By Elyse Dupre Oct 13, 2017 12:46 PMTags

After Twitter temporarily locked Rose McGowan's account, Hollywood expressed its intent to boycott the platform by tweeting #WomenBoycottTwitter.

The hashtag was trending on Oct. 13, and several celebrities tweeted it along with a call-to-action to shun the platform.

Ava Duvernay, Elizabeth Banks, Amber TamblynKathy Griffin and Sarah Paulson were just some of the celebrities who tweeted about the boycott. Even avid Twitter user Chrissy Teigen—who recently used the platform to crowd source brown bananas for her banana bread—said she was stepping away from the platform.     

But Hollywood's leading ladies weren't the only ones to tweet their intent to boycott Twitter. Many gentlemen pledged to participate, too including Mark Ruffalo, Billy Eichner and Jeffrey Wright.

Check out a few celebrities' tweets:

The boycott has sparked a bit of a debate across the social sphere. While some people argue the boycott prevents Twitter from having active users and profiting, others claim the boycott only drives more silence and that people should use the platform to speak out.

McGowan announced that Twitter "SUSPENDED ME" in an Instagram post on Oct. 12. Shortly after her post, E! News learned that the Charmed star's Twitter account was not actually suspended but rather temporarily locked and that her account had since been unlocked.

TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME. THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE. #ROSEARMY #whywomendontreport

A post shared by Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) on

Although a Twitter spokesperson initially told E! News "We don't comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons," an additional statement was later made:

"We have been in touch with Ms. McGowan's team," a Twitter spokesperson stated. "We want to explain that her account was temporarily locked because one of her Tweets included a private phone number, which violates of our Terms of Service. The Tweet was removed and her account has been unlocked. We will be clearer about these policies and decisions in the future."

The spokesperson also stated, "Twitter is proud to empower and support the voices on our platform, especially those that speak truth to power. We stand with the brave women and men who use Twitter to share their stories, and will work hard every day to improve our processes to protect those voices."

 

McGowan wasn't thrilled her account had been temporarily locked and expressed her true feelings once she returned to the platform.

Ever since The New York Times published an article detailing decades of sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein, McGowan (who was mentioned in the article) has been tweeting about the Weinstein Company and sexual harassment; although, she recently expressed her intent to participate in the boycott.

 

What are you feelings on the boycott? Tell us in the comments.