Wingers Melt Down As Twitter Finally Purges Russian Bots

By Susie Madrak — February 21, 2018

Those poor, poor wingnuts! Someone took away their imaginary friends:

Today, our thoughts and prayers are with the #MAGA brigade, as they howl in despair after half their Twitter followers vanished overnight.

The reason? Those ‘cruel leftist libs’ at Twitter just purged a load of Russian bots, it seems – leading (hilariously) to right-wing Tweeters losing their sh*t. They think it’s some kind of left-wing conspiracy, whereas in fact, Twitter appears to have just deleted a bunch of non-existent fascists controlled from St Petersburg.

Not seeming to realise the irony, many are sharing their agony online with the hashtag #TwitterLockout.

I've lost close to 1,000 followers offer the past few hours.

Major purge underway.

— Richard 🐉 Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) February 21, 2018

4,000 followers gone#TwitterLockOut

— SparkleMAGA🇺🇸 (@SparkleSoup45) February 21, 2018

#TwitterLockOut
I lost over 3,000 followers.
What the hell is going on here?

— Philip Schuyler (@FiveRights) February 21, 2018

This was not just a bot purge! There are a couple of other things at play here. By forcing you to register with a telephone number they have your true identity. A lot of people operate under aliases to protect themselves from vile and dangerous leftists. #TwitterLockOut

— Jake Highwell (@JakeHighwell) February 21, 2018

Reality-based Twitter is having a ball:

The #TwitterLockOut explained in 2 tweets. pic.twitter.com/0zWU65KV53

— (((OhNoSheTwitnt))) (@OhNoSheTwitnt) February 21, 2018

#TwitterLockout demonstrates that @Jack has done more to push back against Russian digital interference than the US government run by Donald Trump

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 21, 2018

These right wingers who are bitching about freedo of speech and censorship are the same one who want to fire every NFL player who took a knee !!!! The hypocrisy is un believable #TwitterLockOut

— the llama (@llamain5os) February 21, 2018

Most of the bots locked out are trapped in the basement of a pizzeria that doesn’t have a basement which is funded by George Soros. #TwitterLockOut

— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) February 21, 2018

#twitterlockout shows Twitter could have done a lot long ago

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 21, 2018

Trumpers try to understand; the followers you are losing tonight are not real people. They were bots and @Twitter decided enough was enough. You aren’t being censored. You are being awakened to the FACT that you were engaging with hostile foreign agents! #TwitterLockOut pic.twitter.com/zK7RSlm8Rg

— Corey Reynolds (@coreyreynoldsLA) February 21, 2018

If you want to understand the reaction to #TwitterLockOut, watch this video. Many on the right will never accept that they live in a hall of mirrors, that much of their social media cocoon is an illusion. https://t.co/TTZSJovf2V

— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) February 21, 2018

The most hilarious thing about people shrieking about Twitter's bot purge is that they are equating losing fake followers with...having their own speech suppressed? Or something? It's not very well thought out. #twitterlockout

— Jeff B. (@EsotericCD) February 21, 2018

#TwitterLockOut is triggering all my flashbacks to the Bowling Green Massacre.

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) February 21, 2018

Looks like @realDonaldTrump is down 1 million followers and counting since yesterday. #TwitterLockOut pic.twitter.com/H8UR5aKoq9

— UnsilentMajority 🌹 (@The_UnSilent_) February 21, 2018

Happy Russian Bot Rapture Day everyone! Please celebrate responsibly! #TwitterLockOut pic.twitter.com/Nsnml6X4vl

— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) February 21, 2018

Shhh, shhh, honey, all those followers have just gone on a trip to a lovely farm upstate where they’re getting lots of sunshine and exercise. #TwitterLockOut

— Benjamin Dreyer (@BCDreyer) February 21, 2018

For the folks who are mad about the #TwitterLockOut and the fake followers you lost, it's just practice for when you lose your Fake President in a few months.

— Covfefarosa "CJ or DJ" Jones👑🌊🌊🌊 (@PromoteMyCause) February 21, 2018