It’s Going Down Suspended from Twitter as Billionaire Elon Musk Fulfills Far-Right Agenda

On December 14, It’s Going Down (IGD), along with several other news and journalist accounts, was permanently suspended without warning or justification by billionaire owner of Twitter, Elon Musk. In the past several weeks, Musk has suspended anarchist, left-wing, and anti-fascist accounts known for reporting on both the far-Right and on Musk himself. In some cases, Musk has targeted accounts at the explicit request of Alt-Right trolls, many of whom Musk regularly consults and responds to. Now, following Musk’s viral humiliation in San Francisco, he seems determined to silence anyone who criticizes him.

At the time of the suspension, It’s Going Down had over 108,000 followers. IGD has been on Twitter since 2015 and has never been suspended. As a media collective, IGD curates a regularly updated website, a podcast in the top 1% of downloads featuring weekly dialogues with journalists, authors, and grassroots organizers, and a radio show that reaches tens of thousands across the West Coast on the Pacifica Radio network. As a media outlet, IGD has been quoted and cited in Teen Vogue, the New York Times, and every media platform in between; IGD has been instrumental in reporting on grassroots movements and the growing threat of the Alt-Right and white nationalism. In response, IGD has drawn the ire of the far-Right from Tucker Carlson on Fox News to the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville.

Today’s suspension is only the latest instance of IGD and other grassroots media platforms being banned and censored by tech companies working to advance the agenda of both the far-Right and the State. IGD was removed from Patreon at the request of far-right troll Tim Pool, kicked off of Facebook in the midst of Donald Trump’s response to the George Floyd protests, and finally banned from Instagram.

Elon Musk’s Twitter nuked the antifascist news website It’s Going Down — I look forward to the free speech substack people jumping in to get mad about this one: pic.twitter.com/gIK73zsuqj

— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) December 15, 2022

Since Trump came into the spotlight, the Right has portrayed itself as victimized by both censorship and left-wing violence while explicitly calling for the mass murder of whole sections of the population, the banning of books, history, and expression, and even pushing for outright dictatorship – while downplaying the real carnage taking place across the country from Buffalo to Colorado Springs. Meanwhile, corporate tech platforms continue to rake in cash from viral far-Right content, pumping out everything from QAnon to COVID-19 conspiracy theories; redirecting legitimate anger against capitalism and the State towards communities that are already on the receiving end of racism, anti-Semitism, and state violence.

Absolute disgrace that @IGD_News (It's Going Down) has been suspended from Twitter — crucial news source on movement, anti-fascist politics. No one is surprised by hypocrisy on Musk's Twitter but this is extraordinary https://t.co/pAqnegUEZB

— Natasha Lennard (@natashalennard) December 16, 2022

We expect Musk to run Twitter into the ground, turning it into yet another far-Right echo-chamber. Masquerading as a “free speech absolutist” while attacking Tesla workers who attempt to unionize and parroting far-Right narratives about “pedophiles” while posing for photos with Ghislaine Maxwell, Musk personifies the hypocrisy of capitalism. Small wonder he finds common cause with those still unwilling to publicly boo him: white supremacists and incel trolls.

Regardless of whether you identify as an anarchist or anticapitalist, @IGD_News has done important reporting on #extremism and the far-right. It's shameful to see Elon Musk banning outlets and journalists at the whim of bigots.

All journos should be considering backup plans.

— Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) December 15, 2022

Like the Mercers before him and now Kanye West, Musk represents a segment of the billionaire class that is willing to align itself with the fascist-Right. This reflects the outright nihilism that this camp sells to its followers. This is why Musk set his sights on those reporting on grassroots movements as soon as he gained control of Twitter. Musk isn’t here to shake things up, but to preserve his position at the top.

As a small collective of volunteers, we’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish since starting this project in 2015. IGD has worked to cover prison strikes, anti-fascist resistance to the far-Right, teachers on wildcat across Appalachia, mass struggles confronting resource extraction on Native land, and everything in between.

We are proud of the impact that we have had, and our work is far from done. If our small group can do this much, imagine what a growing network of media collectives reporting on grassroots movements can accomplish, as poor and working people continue to confront and resist the systems of domination, exploitation, and control that immiserate our lives.

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