Update: Was Rebekah Jones Suspended From Twitter for Manipulating Follower Counts?

We reported earlier on how discredited fraud Rebekah Jones, a Florida data technician who – without evidence – alleged a year ago after she was fired that the state’s Dept. of Health and Gov. Ron DeSantis demanded she manipulate numbers on Florida’s COVID dashboard to help further justify reopening plans, was suspended from Twitter today.

Twitter’s stated reason for her suspension was for “violating our rules against platform manipulation and spam.” A lot of people assumed that meant Twitter was taking action against her for repeatedly posting a link (possibly hundreds of times?) to yet another Miami Herald hit piece on DeSantis from Friday in which private messages and DOH emails Jones leaked to the Herald featured prominently.

Jones believed the article vindicated her. It didn’t.

But there’s fresh speculation that Jones’ Twitter suspension might also have something to do with the very real possibility that she may have manipulated her follower counts to the tune of tens of thousands:

Actually this specific suspension suggests that Rebekah Jones was misusing additional accounts/ sock puppet accounts to help spread misinformation and to defend herself.

Thank you for making that clear for everyone. https://t.co/RxxPoXII9y

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) June 7, 2021

This April tweet from someone who goes by the name “Conspirador Norteño” and who also says they are a data scientist, suggests that’s exactly what she did:

The involuntary follow behavior of the Round Year Fun apps has resulted in massive infusions of followers since early April 2021 for its most frequent beneficiaries. Leading the pack is @GeoRebekah, with (at least) 20198 followers that have used Round Year Fun apps. pic.twitter.com/Qu1CFcchGN

— Conspirador Norteño (@conspirator0) April 17, 2021

Read more on the intricacies of how “Round Year Fun” apps operate here and in this detailed thread.

Another Twitter account (@GeoCampaigns) that is believed to be a Jones sockpuppet account was also suspended today (and still is as of this writing).

Most hilariously, Jones’ suspension has led to some predictable white knighting on her behalf for purposes of falsely accusing Gov. DeSantis of hypocrisy:

LOL watching Brian Stelter-wannabes like Justin white knight for Rebekah Jones by pivoting to supposed "hypocrisy" from Ron DeSantis is just too precious for words. https://t.co/4KcrKuvqFX

— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) June 7, 2021

Hi Justin, have you been informed she was suspended over her political beliefs or was it over an actual legit Twitter violation like spamming and/or manipulating follower accounts, you know, things that literally NOBODY has a problem with Twitter suspending people over? https://t.co/4KcrKuvqFX

— Sister Toldjah 😁 (@sistertoldjah) June 7, 2021

For their part, DeSantis’ office put out another statement that made similar points that others (including me) did about how what Jones is alleged to have done to warrant suspension wouldn’t be covered by Florida’s new anti-Big Tech law anyway:

.@GovRonDeSantis Office full statement re Rebekah Jones suspension from Twitter. pic.twitter.com/LhSban6LAf

— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) June 7, 2021

Not only that, but Jones now lives in Maryland, so unless I’m missing something here Florida law does not apply in Maryland.

Wouldn’t it be rather ironic if Jones, who has said for over a year now that she was fired for refusing to manipulate data for DeSantis, was suspended for manipulating her follower accounts? Such things are, I should note, grounds for permanent suspension if true.

We’ll keep you posted when we learn more.