@carpedonktum's Twitter profile when it was suspended. Photo: Screenshot via Twitter
A pro-Trump meme maker also known as “Carpe Donktum” was briefly suspended from Twitter on Monday, after a violent parody aired during a conference at President Trump’s Miami-area golf resort depicting Trump stabbing and shooting media outlets and political opponents in the “Church of Fake News.”
Why it matters: Both the account holder and Twitter say the ban was due to a copyright issue. It's a bannable offense to re-upload older content previously removed from Twitter, which was what Donktum did Monday morning in response to the video's controversy, The Verge reports.
After his account was reactivated, Carpe Donktum said in a Persicope video that Twitter banned his account due to copyright infringement of a Super Bowl commercial from February 2018. He claims he has never reposted videos he has previously complied to take down.
The big picture: Carpe Donktum's video is an example of how the movements of online trolls and meme-makers who support Trump have "reshaped mainstream politics and the media," the Washington Post reports.
- President Trump's accusation that tech companies are biased against conservatives is one of the hottest subjects among the Republican Party’s online base this year.
- More than a year ago, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was pressed by Republicans in Congress and ridiculed by Trump over allegations of anti-conservative bias.
Background: The violent parody, which the White House condemns, aired during a conference at President Trump’s Miami-area golf resort.
- On Monday before the account was suspended, Carpe Donktum stood by the meme video in a statement and blamed the original New York Times report for sensationalizing a parody.
The Washington Post reported Monday that the video's creator is TheGeekzTeam, which often contributes to MemeWorld, owned by Carpe Donktum.
"The Kingsman video is CLEARLY satirical and the violence depicted is metaphoric. No reasonable person would believe that this video was a call to action, or an endorsement of violence towards the media. The only person that could potentially be “incited” by this video is Donald Trump himself, as the main character of the video is him. THERE IS NO CALL TO ACTION."— From Carpe Donktum