The “Antifa tweets” that flooded Twitter and promoted violence actually came from a well-known far-right group! The information came to light after a statement from Twitter on Monday, while a company spokesperson added that they have removed the account.
«This account violated our platform conduct and policy spam ., specifically the creation of fake accounts. We took action when the account sent a Tweet that promoted violence and was against Twitter's rules.»
The Antifa tweets and the revelation of the fake account come as Donald Trump has been lashing out at left-wing activists, claiming they are inciting violence at protests across America. On Sunday, he tweetedthat he would designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, something the government has no legal authority to do.
The term "Antifa" is an abbreviation for "Anti-facistists", that is, a group of people with common political beliefs, usually left-wing, and characteristics such as anti-fascism. Their positions are often not easily defined, but most are supporters of the most oppressed population and protest the accumulation of wealth in businesses and the bourgeoisie in general.
According to Twitter, the fake account “@ANTIFA_US” is directly linked to the white supremacist organization, “Identity Evropa.” However, the religious group “Anti-Defamation League” claims that this group was disbanded, and was re-established under the name “American Identitarian Movement,” which is also made up of white supremacists. The group calls itself “identitarian,” meaning that all white people should represent their race and cultural identity.
The account may only have a few thousand followers, but it remains proof that far-right extremists in America are trying to create tension by posing as left-wing activists online.
The phenomenon of fake Antifa accounts being created by right-wingers erupted before the current wave of protests. The account removed on Monday was not the first to be linked to the racists, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed.
