Twitter shuts down PewDiePie's account following Isis joke
YouTube star PewDiePie was temporarily kicked off Twitter after making a joke about Isis.
PewDiePie
The social network, which has been clamping down on Isis-related activity on its platform, briefly shut down the account of PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, following a series of incidents which culminated in him joking that he had joined Isis.
The incident began when Kjellberg decided to un-verify himself by adding a globe icon next to his name on Twitter. A parody news account then tweeted a story claiming PewDiePie had lost his Twitter verification due to "suspected relations with Isis".
Popular YouTuber @pewdiepie unverified due to suspected relations with ISIS https://t.co/iElCWtBzpU pic.twitter.com/x2L0INKVU5
— Sky News (@SkyNeiws) August 30, 2016
He subsequently retweeted the story before tweeting that he and fellow YouTuber JackSepticEye had joined Isis.
Me and @Jack_Septic_Eye have joined isis. Which is why we both got unverified.
— Felix Kjellberg (@pewdiepie) August 30, 2016
Twitter responded by shutting down his account, however it has since been restored him without the verification tick.
Twitter has refused to comment on the reasoning behind the ban, stating that it doesn’t “comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons”.
Kjellberg himself took the opportunity to talk about the debacle in a YouTube video in which he criticises social media, claiming that it makes people “retarded”.