Twitter bans 165-year-old Iowa newspaper — and it's not clear why

The Globe Gazette, a 165-year-old newspaper in Mason City, was permanently banned on Twitter — its editor says for no clear reason.

News editor Lisa Grouette said she came across a tweet from the Mason City High School boys track and field team Tuesday and thought to retweet it on the news page. Instead, she got an error that said the Globe Gazette's account was suspended.

"And I thought, 'OK, it was just a Twitter glitch,'" she said. "I kept refreshing and I shut down Twitter and opened it back up and sure it enough, it was suspended."

Grouette immediately appealed to the platform. The next day she checked the status of her case again and saw the account was upgraded to permanently banned. According to Grouette, there was no specific reason given as to why the account was suspended.

Like other newspapers across the country, the Globe Gazette uses Twitter to post its stories and interact with readers, who often use social media to consume news. According to the Pew Research Center, Twitter was a regular news source for 14% of Americans in 2022.

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Groutte said the newspaper doesn't spam followers or promote hate speech. It posts local news content, Associated Press stories and regional Iowa news, she said.

"It's freaky because none of our sister papers had it and I thought 'gosh, if it can happen to us, it can happen to any newspaper,'" she said. "Hopefully it's just a glitch and not a sign of what's to come."

Neither the Register nor Grouette were able to find a media line or email account to get in touch with a Twitter spokesperson.

No one from Twitter has gotten in touch with Grouette regarding the issue, she said. Someone from the paper's corporate office advised her to appeal every day.

"I plan on it. I'm gonna be the squeakiest wheel you've ever come across," she said. "I'm gonna annoy them until they listen to me."

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This isn't the first struggle the Globe Gazette has had with Twitter

For more than a year now, Grouette has struggled to get the Globe Gazette verified on the platform. Grouette said she has provided all the links to prove the paper is real and answered questions, only to be denied multiple times.

"I love Twitter and I think our followers are missing out. And every follower who doesn't get to see one of our links is a subscriber we could be missing," she said. "And obviously supporting local news is more important than ever right now."

"Digital content is something we're very proud of and it's super frustrating not to be able to get that product out. It could cost us subscribers," she said.

Grouette said the website is still up and publishing articles. If readers want to still get notifications through social media, they can check the Globe Gazette's Facebook page until the situation with Twitter fixed.

Noelle Alviz-Gransee is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Follow her on Twitter @NoelleHannika or email her at NAlvizGransee@registermedia.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Twitter bans Mason City Globe Gazette — and it's not clear why