Leslie Jones back on Twitter
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"Ghostbusters" star Leslie Jones was back on Twitter Thursday night following reports earlier this week that said she was leaving the social media site after being subjected to harassment during a Twitter fed with a conservative journalist.
Thanks for the love and support I received! made me feel real special See you later on @sethmeyers #LoveForLeslieJ pic.twitter.com/1SOU5QnhMQ
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 21, 2016
Jones appeared on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" to explain the situation. “I did not leave Twitter,” she said. “I just signed out because I wanted to deal with what was going on.”
“What’s scary about the whole thing is the insults didn’t hurt me,” she explained. “Unfortunately, I’m used to insults, but what scared me was the injustice of a gang of people jumping against you for such a sick cause… It’s so gross and mean and unnecessary.”
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“Hate speech and freedom of speech,” she said. “Two different things.”
Twitter permanently banned Breitbart journalist Milo Yiannopoulos following his Twitter feud with Jones.
The social media site suspended Yiannopoulos’ account after the openly gay conservative called Jones a “black dude” and “barely literate.” The dispute was further fueled by a mass of the journalist’s fans, who attacked Jones with racist tweets.
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Jones has posted seemingly derogatory comments about white people in the past, but Twitter has allowed her account to remain active. In one post from 2014 she wrote "ok you white girls are starting to look alike like a mutherf--ka. I swear i went to high school with them two girls!#ainteventryingtolookdiff" and in another wrote "wait a minute is solomon sitting by a white women…#imgonnaf--khimup."
Yiannopoulos argued Jones was able to keep her account because the social media platform disregards content and instead focuses solely on the political and identity groups of the user.
“Twitter hasn’t banned her for the same reason they did ban me,” he told FoxNews.com Wednesday, claiming he didn’t violate the site’s Terms of Service and was punished solely because of his beliefs.
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Yiannopoulos says Twitter has a bias against conservative speech.
“This ban reinforces something I've been saying for quite some time. Twitter's policy on free speech is that it is bad and has no place on their platform,” he said.
But some experts say private corporations like Twitter can do what they want when it comes to who they let use their service. Twitter is only required to abide by discrimination laws, which prevent companies from harassing an individual based on factors such as race, religion or sexual orientation.
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Eric Schiffer, CEO of DigitalMarketing.com, told FoxNews.com in an email: “This is a private club. It’s not public. Twitter is a corporation that can make its own rules.”
Caroline Sinders, a digital user researcher who has worked with Twitter, agreed.
“People think of Twitter like a public park, but it’s actually like a patio in a restaurant,” she told FoxNews.com in an email. “If a restaurant says sorry no yellow shirts on Tuesdays, it can enact that rule.”
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Jones echoed the restaurant analogy on “Late Night.”
“It’s like, that’s my favorite restaurant. I love the food there,” she said, referring to Twitter. “Three people just got shot in front of me. Y’all need to get some security!”
Sinders said she doesn’t believe discrimination comes into play in Yiannopoulos’ case and instead blames the ban on his retweeting of fake Jones tweets - which she says constitutes an impersonation policy violation.
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“I think that this has nothing to do with his political views or his sexuality,” she said, insisting that more conservatives would currently be suspended if Twitter had a political agenda. “People are banned because they break rules, not for their identity or orientation.”
A Twitter spokesman wouldn’t address Jones' past tweets, but told FoxNews.com in an email that the company believes “people should be able to express diverse opinions and beliefs” but rules “prohibit inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others.”
FOXNews.com's Michelle Leibowitz contributed to this report.