NI disability rights activist has X accounts restored as platform apologises for ‘mistaken’ suspension

Dermot Devlin - who has picked up a number of awards for his activism – received an email on July 4 from X (formerly Twitter) to inform him that his account had been suspended for “violating the X rules due to a user report”, as well as violating rules “against evading suspension”.

Mr Devlin’s professional accounts – My Way Access and Disabled People Against Cuts NI (DPACNI) – had also been suspended.

After this newspaper earlier reported that the Co Tyrone man’s accounts had been suspended, Mr Devlin confirmed access to his personal account had been restored.

In a message – seen by the Belfast Telegraph – the company apologised to the award-winning activist.

"We’re writing to let you know that we’ve unsuspended your account,” said the message.

"We have systems that find and remove multiple automated spam accounts in bulk, and yours was flagged as spam by mistake.

"Please note that it may take an hour or so for your follower and following numbers to return to normal.

"We’re sorry for the inconvenience and hope to see you back on X soon.”

Mr Devlin had previously said the suspension left him feeling “silenced” and unable to effectively promote his activism.

"This had completely come out of the blue, despite the email on July 4 stating I've violated my suspension. I wasn't aware of any suspensions previously,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"Despite previous appeals, which failed without explanation why, I and others had been able to make any human contact at X to find out the reasons why.

"July is Disability Pride Month, a month where deaf and disabled people speak up on various issues and life experiences, but this is the month X decided to silence my voice.”

Mr Devlin also said he had contacted the company’s CEO Linda Yaccarino via LinkedIn several times, but had not received any response.

His suspension had prompted a number of local politicians and activists to speak out on the issue.

Fellow NI disability activist Joanne Sansone – whose own account was temporarily suspended by X last year – had previously challenged the company’s owner Elon Musk over the suspension.

"If you truly believe in freedom of speech, why do you suspend so many accounts using algorithms & bots?” she posted.

"That really promotes ‘freedom of speech’ not! We have the choice to block/mute accounts ourselves, bar you.

"Why the need to control/dictate our freedom to choose?”

Mr Musk took over Twitter in 2022, formally rebranding it to X in July 2023. The Tesla CEO laid off thousands of staff at the company following his acquisition, including several members of the communications department.

X have been approached for comment, with the Belfast Telegraph receiving the company’s standard auto-reply.

"Busy now, please check back later,” it said.