OMAHA — Twitter has reversed the suspension of newly appointed State Board of Education member Kirk Penner’s account, saying it made the suspension in error.
In an email, the social media company told the World-Herald it had reversed the suspension and informed Penner of the error. Twitter did not immediately provide additional information on what led to the suspension.Â
Penner, a businessman and former member of the Aurora Public Schools board, indicated in a tweet that the suspension stemmed from a photo taken after a goose hunt.
At 10:22 p.m. Friday, Penner tweeted a screenshot appearing to show Twitter instructing him to delete his previous profile picture. The picture showed three people, dressed in camouflage, kneeling behind a row of dead geese. In the screenshot, Twitter said the picture violated its rules against graphic violence or adult content in profile images.
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“Goose hunting pics are not welcome on Twitter," Penner wrote in a tweet sharing the screenshot. "Been on my profile for 2 years. Had to change that goose hunting picture because evidently goose hunting is offensive. Interesting timing.â€
Gov. Pete Ricketts announced Penner’s appointment to the board on Thursday. Following his appointment, social media users shared screenshots of posts Penner shared, including one questioning vaccines for young children and another comparing Europe’s response to the pandemic to “Nazi Germany.â€
By Friday afternoon, Penner's account had been suspended.
In a statement Sunday, Ricketts reiterated his support for Penner.
“My stance on government-issued Covid vaccine mandates is clear and unwavering. While I encourage Nebraskans to get vaccinated, that remains a personal decision between individuals and their doctors. Kirk Penner has 16 years experience on the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education and is a respected member of the community. He is a great fit for the State Board of Education.â€
When contacted Saturday night, Penner said he had no comment.
At the top of his profile, Penner pinned an Oct. 26 tweet where he wrote, “Using 5-11 year old children as guinea pigs is sad. Children are not at risk.†The tweet was in response to a seven-second video from another account which showed a Food and Drug Administration official saying, “We’re never going to learn about how safe the vaccine is unless we start giving it.â€
U.S. regulators authorized Pfizer’s vaccine for younger children after millions of 12- to 17-year-olds received the shot. More than 5 million children ages 5 to 11 have gotten a first dose since early November, and government safety monitoring has not uncovered any surprise problems.
Separately, Penner retweeted a tweet that says, “police are patrolling the streets to check people’s health papers to see if they are allowed to be there,†in an apparent reference to Europe’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. “We used to think this was only something that happened in Nazi Germany in the past.â€
Penner will complete the remainder of the term of Patricia Timm of Beatrice, who resigned from the District 5 seat in October, citing personal health reasons.
The term runs through Jan. 4, 2023. District 5 includes areas of Southeast Nebraska, including large parts of the south side of Lincoln.
The board and Nebraska Department of Education have faced criticism over much of the past year for their handling of proposed health education standards.
The initial draft of the standards, released in March, called for teaching elementary school children about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Ricketts called for scrapping the sex education topics, saying those issues should be left to parents to address. Opponents of the standards packed board meetings and voiced objections in emails to board members.
Advocates praised the first draft of the standards, saying the language — which recognized diverse family structures, gender identities and sexual orientations — would have made those children and families feel welcome instead of ostracized.
In September, the board indefinitely postponed development of the standards.
Penner is far from the first Twitter user to have their account mistakenly suspended by the San Francisco-based company.
Earlier this year, Twitter suspended the account of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene twice in the span of about three weeks due to errors.
The Georgia Republican, who has in the past promoted violence against Democrats and conspiracy theories about QAnon and the 9/11 attacks, was unable to post to her account for multiple hours in April due to what Twitter said was a mistake by one of its automated systems.
That came roughly three weeks after Greene’s account was suspended for about 12 hours in what the company also said was a mistake.
In 2016, Twitter accidentally suspended the account of company co-founder Jack Dorsey. That mistake came as Twitter suspended the accounts of several prominent members of the so-called “alt-right†in an apparent crackdown on accounts tied to hate speech or threats of violence.
In the wake of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Twitter suspended the account of former President Donald Trump, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.â€
Twitter and other social media platforms have moved to block content and suspend accounts deemed to violate use policies.
Those decisions have opened the door to criticism from politicians, particularly Republican officials who allege the social media platforms are censoring conservatives.
GOP politicians in roughly two dozen states have introduced bills that would allow for civil lawsuits against platforms for what they call the “censorship†of posts. Many protest the deletion of political and religious statements, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Democrats, who also have called for greater scrutiny of big tech, are sponsoring the same measures in at least two states.
Experts have said the legislative proposals are likely to run afoul of federal law, specifically Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. They said state lawmakers are wading into unconstitutional territory by trying to interfere with the editorial policies of private companies.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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