Twitter Suspends DeSantis Spox For “Abusing” Reporter

The Associated Press reports:

Twitter suspended the account of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary for violating rules on “abusive behavior” after The Associated Press said her conduct led to a reporter receiving threats and other online abuse.

The DeSantis aide, Christina Pushaw, saw her account locked for 12 hours, a Twitter spokeswoman said. She won’t be able to tweet, although others can retweet or “like” her messages.

Earlier Friday, incoming AP CEO Daisy Veerasingham wrote to DeSantis, asking him to end Pushaw’s “harassing behavior.” AP is seeking to fight online bullying against journalists, a growing trend that is often triggered by public figures.

The Hill reports:

Pushaw denied any wrongdoing toward Brandon Farrington despite retweeting his article with the caption “drag them” in a post that has since been deleted, according to the AP.

In the story that Pushaw retweeted, Farrington noted that one of DeSantis’s multimillion-dollar donors invests in a company making the coronavirus treatment drug Regeneron, which the governor has been touting around the state.

Farrington tweeted Wednesday that he had received online threats about the story, according to the AP. The reporter’s Twitter account is now private. Pushaw said the tweet was not meant to be a violent threat that resulted in people hurling abuse toward Farrington.