British Politician Dominic Cummings Twitter Account Blocked On Twitter

JAKARTA - The name Dominic Cummings is currently ranked first in the Twitter search column. Not having a problem or spreading misinformation, this British politician was blocked because he had a name that seemed vulgar.

Reported by The Guardian, this blocking occurred because Twitter detected Cummings' activity on social media containing pornographic content. Moreover, there are many hashtags that have blown their names and become trending topics on Twitter, such as #cummnings, #dominiccummigs and #sackcummimgs.

This incident occurred after the British Prime Minister's chief adviser broke the lockdown by driving 250 miles. He was also reported to have experienced symptoms of COVID-19 while driving.

# LockdownForTheManyNOTtheFew @ Conservatives @ 10DowningStreet @BorisJohnson @ Number10press - What a pathetic visage before us tonight; answer the #DominicCummings questions! Fire him! He Broke Quarantine / Broke the Law / Drove a Car whilst incapacitated. pic.twitter.com/ntvTpMUazp

- 51stState🐦🌹 (Fifty1stState) May 28, 2020

Warganet then did not accept the behavior of the British politician. They then created hashtags by using the name Dominic Cummings on Twitter.

As a result, Twitter's filtering engine considers Dominic Cummings' name as pornographic content. Where Twitter will automatically block all photo and video results from search terms that are believed to contain sensitive content such as "porn" or "Cummings."

Until now, Twitter has not provided an explanation regarding the filter algorithm. But whether intentional or not, this anti-porn filter works fast enough to curate accounts that feature adult activity.

Not to mention the problem that occurred with President of the United States (US) Donald Trump who was labeled 'fact-check' for some of his potentially misinformed tweets. Trump himself plans to challenge Twitter's new feature because it has curbed freedom of information.

This does not make us an "arbitrator of truth." Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions.

- jack (jack) May 28, 2020

On the other hand, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey spoke about the usefulness of the fact-checking feature on his platform. According to him, fact checking is true, to eliminate all potential misinformation uploaded by Twitter users on social media.

"This does not make us refereeing the truth. Our aim is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show information in the dispute so that people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is essential so that people can clearly see the reasons behind our actions, "added Dorsey.