James Woods Refuses to Back Down From Twitter Demand: ‘Free Speech Is Free Speech’

“Free speech is free speech.”

Actor and conservative icon James Woods said Sunday he refuses to give in to Twitter’s demand, asking him to delete a two-months old tweet, which would allow him regain access to his account.

The outspoken conservative told the ​Associated Press that he received an email from Twitter last week informing him that his account had been locked. According to Woods the company felt the tweet, which he posted on July 20, had “the potential to be misleading in a way that could impact an election.”

The tweet featured a meme framed to look as if it came from a Democratic group and encouraged liberal men to stay home in the midterm elections to “make a woman’s vote worth more.”

Woods acknowledged the meme was likely a hoax when he shared it, writing: “Pretty scary that there is a distinct possibility this could be real. Not likely, but in this day and age of absolute liberal insanity, it is at least possible…”

Woods will be able to use his account again once he deletes the tweet, according to the email.

“Free speech is free speech — it’s not Jack Dorsey’s version of free speech,” he said, referring to Twitter’s CEO.

“The irony is, Twitter accused me of affecting the political process, when in fact, their banning of me is the truly egregious interference,” he added. “Because now, having your voice smothered is much more disturbing than having your vocal chords slit. If you want to kill my free speech, man up and slit my throat with a knife, don’t smother me with a pillow.”

Woods, who has more than 1.7 million Twitter followers, said he was being personally targeted by the social media platform, noting that his girlfriend retweeted the hoax meme on Friday and her account still remains active.

The actor’s Twitter suspension comes amid ​concern from Republicans that social media companies are censoring conservative voices under the cover of tackling fake news and election meddling.

Many, like President Donald Trump’s oldest son Don Jr., spoke up in favor of Woods.

On the other hand, some liberals felt that the misleading nature of the meme was worthy of a Twitter time-out.

While others pointed out that Twitter’s “censorship” doesn’t exclusively target conservatives.

The backlash against Woods’ meme calls to mind a similar situation ​involving a satirical video interview of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “conducted” by CRTV’s Allie Stuckey.

Many liberals complained that the Stuckey-Cortez video was problematic in that news consumers might take it as a real interview. Some ​urged reporting CRTV on Facebook as “fake news.”

Conservatives pushed back by arguing that it was an obvious parody — akin to The Daily Show’s comedically ​edited interview ​segments — and that the video’s detractors were motivated by partisanship.

What’s clear from the Woods incident is that the blurry line between “fake news” and satire has yet to be clarified in some people’s eyes.

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Germania Rodriguez

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