The first account closed belonged to Al-Manar, a Lebanese based news agency that is closely associated with Hezbollah.
By World Israel News Staff
Twitter has suspended multiple accounts linked to Hamas and Hezbollah, Arab media reported on Sunday.
“There is no place on Twitter for illegal terrorist organizations and violent extremist groups,” said a spokesperson for Twitter.
IDF Spokesman Jonathan Conricus lauded Twitter’s decision.
“Kudos to Twitter for suspending the accounts of terror groups Hezbollah and Hamas. Internationally recognized terror groups should never have a platform for their violent extremism,” he said.
According to the reports, the first account that was closed belonged to Al-Manar, a Lebanese based news agency that is closely associated with Hezbollah.
The Lebanese news agency did not shy away from the fact that they represent Hezbollah’s interests.
“Hezbollah, in addition to its resistance role, plays a big role in Lebanese political life. It’s represented in the government and parliament as well, due to its large popular support from Lebanese people of various backgrounds,” Al-Manar said in a statement.
According to multiple media reports, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey took this decisive step after feeling the “heat” from members of Congress who are demanding that the social media giant take down all Hezbollah and Hamas affiliated accounts.
Congressman Max Rose explained why he felt compelled to stop Twitter from hosting terror accounts.
“This shouldn’t be hard. Groups that are designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations shouldn’t be on social media channels,” he said.
“The FTO designation is a clear standard for removing content, and there’s no reason why exceptions should be made for groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and their affiliates as they continue to sponsor violent radical extremism,” he added.
Israel has been very wary of Hezbollah’s attempts to create a precision missile arsenal.
On Wednesday, Axios reported that Israel has requested the U.S to use their aid to the Lebanese government as leverage for taking action against Hezbollah’s precision-guided missile program.
According to the report, U.S. military assistance to Lebanon has reached $100 million annually and many White House officials agree with the Israeli position that such aid should be withheld to put pressure on Hezbollah.
However, the State Department and the Pentagon are reportedly opposed to such a move.