The road to the big screen has been a rocky one for Unplanned, the movie based on the life of former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned pro-life activist Abby Johnson. Aside from many media companies refusing to advertise the film, which opened in 1,000 theaters last weekend, Twitter temporarily banned the movie’s account on opening weekend, and a rocky reinstatement caused followers to fall away and did not allow new followers to sign on. Everyone from Ashley Bratcher, the woman who portrays Johnson in the film, to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tweeted their frustration about what they saw as the social media giant’s censorship of a pro-life movie. “Trying to figure out why the @UnplannedMovie account has been suspended,” Bratcher tweeted. “We need answers. #unplannedmovie” Trying to figure out why the @UnplannedMovie account has been suspended. We need answers. #unplannedmovie pic.twitter.com/rTIXVzHwI5 — Ashley Bratcher (@_AshleyBratcher) March 30, 2019 “Big Tech’s attempted censorship of @UnplannedMovie is deeply troubling,” Cruz tweeted. “And revealing. Why is the Left so afraid of people seeing this powerful story? Regardless of where you fall on abortion, you owe it yourself to see this thought-provoking true story & decide for yourself.” Big Tech’s attempted censorship of @UnplannedMovie is deeply troubling. And reveling. Why is the Left so afraid of people seeing this powerful story? Regardless of where you fall on abortion, you owe it yourself to see this thought-provoking true story & decide for yourself. https://t.co/sfxsxULMb2 — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 1, 2019 Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition and Brandi Swindell, founder and CEO of Stanton Healthcare, showed up at Twitter’s D.C. headquarters on Tuesday to protest. A few others joined them on the sidewalk to talk about how the movie reveals what really happens behind closed doors at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics, and how one woman’s decision to quit her job, write a book about her experience, and help some 500 others leave jobs with the nation’s largest abortion provider is inspirational. “We’re here for a number of reasons,” Mahoney told Breitbart News. “But the main one has to do with Twitter’s unfair prejudice and censorship of the film Unplanned, and by extension, many faith-based groups, organizations, and individuals or conservative individuals.” “Realizing that innocent lives were being taken, Abby took a heroic stand for life,” Mahoney said. “Abby took a courageous stand, risking her reputation, her career, and she was even taken to court, and it showed her embracing the powerful message of equality for everyone.” “If [Twitter] is misleading the American public, that needs to be looked into,” Mahoney said. “It is an outrage how Twitter has treated the film Unplanned and violated their corporate values in the process,” Swindell said. “It is now apparent that Twitter is not a forum and free marketplace of diverse values and opinions but rather a mouthpiece for only voices they agree with.” “Every American who cherishes free and open speech should be speaking out about the manipulation of Twitter, and they’re misleading the public on how they operate as a corporation,” Swindell said. Swindell, who runs what she calls “life-affirming” women’s health clinics in the United States and abroad, called the movie “life-changing” and “pro-woman” and said it was “deeply troubling” that Twitter would censor the film’s account even for a short time. “It’s wrong what Twitter did,” Swindell said. “It’s un-American what Twitter did.” But despite what seemed like a broad campaign to keep Unplanned out of the public eye, according to the Box Office Mojo, the film ranked fourth in the country on its opening weekend, earning $6.3 million — more than double what industry experts predicted. Even the left-wing website Slate weighed in on the film and the Twitter drama: The movie’s account was restored within an hour and a half, an estimate confirmed by producer Joe Knopp. But that was enough to convince fans that the suspension was a result of “pro-abortion bias,” as prominent activist Lila Rose alleged. A Twitter spokesperson told me that the suspension was automatically triggered because the system perceived that an account related to Unplanned’s had been suspended at some point in the past. Twitter scans for evidence of “ban evasion”—accounts opened by people who have previously been booted from the platform. (The Unplanned account has been tweeting since September, so it is not clear why Twitter’s system flagged it last weekend.) When an account is reinstated after a ban, the company said, it takes time for the follower count to stabilize; the follow-button glitch is a not-uncommon related issue. An algorithmic glitch is less glamorous than a grand narrative of suppression and needless to say the brief suspension has not hurt the movie’s word-of-mouth publicity efforts. The movie has picked up about 275,000 Twitter followers since Saturday, and Knopp said it would appear in 700 new theaters next weekend. In fact, as of Wednesday, the Unplanned Twitter account has more than 340,000 followers compared to Planned Parenthood, which shows 270,000 followers. The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed on Unplanned and the Twitter debacle, noting that the film has had an account since August but was never flagged until its opening weekend. “Perhaps users would find it more useful if Twitter stopped modeling and organizing and allowed users more power to decide for themselves what’s timely and relevant,” the Journal wrote. “Social media companies have made a fortune because so much of their content is free and user-generated.” “But Saturday was a reminder that sometimes it’s not at all user-friendly,” the Journal wrote. “Perhaps this week regular Twitter users should go see a movie instead.” Follow Penny Starr on Twitter.<doc-sep>Christian-focused production company Pure Flix’s latest release, “Unplanned,” had its Twitter account restored Saturday after it was briefly suspended. “Thank you everyone for your support in letting Jack & Twitter know when our Unplanned movie account was recently suspended without cause,” the film’s account tweeted Saturday. “We are back and excited for the great response we’re getting in theaters this weekend.” Thank you everyone for your support in letting @Jack & @Twitter know when our Unplanned Movie account was recently suspended without cause. We are back and excited for the great response we're getting in theaters this weekend.#grateful https://t.co/vTmhqoXIWm — UnplannedMovie (@UnplannedMovie) March 30, 2019 According to Twitter, the suspension was not as a result of the “Unplanned” account’s content. Rather, another account had violated Twitter rules, which can sometimes result in linked accounts being investigated to prevent ban evasion. On a second review, the “Unplanned” account was cleared and reinstated. “Unplanned” is based on the 2009 memoir of Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director. The film charts her rise at the non-profit until she witnesses an abortion at 13 weeks and becomes a pro-life activist. Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman wrote that the film “isn’t good drama but it’s effective propaganda (if you’re part of the choir).” It’s opening above expectations with an estimated $7 million for the weekend from 1,059 locations.<doc-sep>ANALYSIS/OPINION: A true-life movie of a former Planned Parenthood executive who changed her views of abortion and jumped into the pro-life camp was just released to both box office fanfare and Twitter shunning. It’s a real left-right moment. A real showdown of left-right ideologies in culture and politics. On one hand, half in America are pulling for the path of Christian resurgence — or, at the least, a return to morality and virtue, a revival of traditional values and long-held, long-cherished normative societal behaviors and speech. On the other, half are calling for the complete abolition of standards, complete shuttering of cultural and moral-based constraints — and busily shuttering views that disagree. And it’s the second that have control of social media. So when “Unplanned” made its debut at 1,059 theaters around the nation and pulled in about $6 million or so in opening ticket sales, yet fans, for a time, couldn’t go to Twitter and follow the movie’s page, because of a site “error,” according to company higher-ups — well then, it’s natural to smell a rat. “I think it’s outrageous,” Ashley Bratcher, the actress who plays former Planned Parenthood-turned-pro-lifer Abby Johnson in the movie, said on Fox News about the Twitter flap. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life. I think it’s incredibly suspicious given that we were suspended, then reinstated, then we lost followers, then we have people saying they can’t follow, then my own account was unfollowed from the movie. I couldn’t even follow my own movie.” She’s right. It is outrageous. And suspicious. Twitter chalked it all to “error,” of course. “After further review,” the social media outlet said, in a later message to “Unplanned” site monitors, “we have unsuspended your account as it does not appear to be in violation of the Twitter Rules.” But it wasn’t just the Twitter flap. It was that “Unplanned” was given an R-rating — at a time in American culture when cussing and sexual coupling only merits PG or PG-13. It was that “Unplanned” was refused advertising space on Lifetime, the Hallmark Channel, HGTV and numerous other cable networks, as if the film were too tawdry to promote. It was all that, then the Twitter suspension. Culture war, anyone? And over a movie that’s really, at root, about love and hope and redemption, for goodness’ sake? It’s easy to look at what happened with “Unplanned” as just one more example of social media free speech failure, or as one more instance of liberal-conservative bickering over politics. But the larger theme is this: America’s drift of moral compass has been ongoing for decades, and traditionalists are losing. How do we know this? Just a few short years ago, a story about the shunning of “Unplanned” would’ve shocked. Now, it’s expected. Censorship’s almost a yawner. The controversy over “Unplanned” is nearly an eye-roller. Now, it’s just one of a collection of stories about conservatives being censored, Christian speech being stifled, traditional viewpoints being shuttered, stories of morality and faith-based virtues being suppressed and quelled. Therein, for those care about America’s moral direction, lies the danger. Sleeping in the face of the enemy doesn’t win the war. And mark these words: The clamp of conservative, biblical and traditional views will only get worse, unless more of those with discernment become willing to take the abuse and suffer the attacks that come from fighting an intolerant and secular left. • Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Sign up for Daily Opinion Newsletter Manage Newsletters Copyright © 2021 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.<doc-sep>
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley has called on Twitter chief Jack Dorsey to open the tech giant up to an independent outside audit after the temporary suspension of the account for the movie “Unplanned.” The movie is based on the true story of Abby Johnson, who worked as a clinic director at Planned Parenthood, but resigned in 2009 and became a pro-life activist. “Over the weekend, Twitter suspended @UnplannedMovie for no apparent reason. Latest example of deplatforming prolife and conservative voices. Time for @jack to open Twitter to a full, independent, outside audit on its speech policies - and then publish the results,” Hawley tweeted. 'UNPLANNED' ACTRESS ON TWITTER BACKLASH: 'I COULDN'T EVEN FOLLOW MY OWN MOVIE' Twitter says that the account was suspended in error. The National Review reports that the GOP senator, who is a vocal critic of big tech, has sent a letter to Dorsey outlining his concerns about this weekend’s incident. “Last week, Twitter suspend[ed] the account of the pro-life movie Unplanned—on opening weekend, no less—raising yet more questions about your supposed commitment to free speech,” he wrote, according to the National Review, which has seen a copy of the letter. “Just as bad, after you lifted the suspension, 99 percent of Unplanned’s followers mysteriously disappeared.” DISNEY'S 'DUMBO' FAILS TO SOAR AT BOX OFFICE AS FAITH-BASED FILM 'UNPLANNED' SURPRISES WITH STRONG DEBUT The movie’s Twitter account was briefly suspended on Saturday, Variety reports. Twitter told Fox News that the company's systems mistakenly the “Unplanned” account to another account that violated its rules. “It wasn't directly about this account. When an account violates the Twitter Rules, the system looks for linked accounts to mitigate things like ban evasion,” a spokeswoman explained, via email. “In this case, the account was mistakenly caught in our automated systems for ban evasion.” The account was reinstated as soon as the mistake was brought to Twitter’s attention, the spokeswoman added. Twitter said that an account's followers take time to fully replenish after it is reinstated. “We are not hiding follower counts or disallowing certain people from following,” the spokeswoman said. “We enforce our rules dispassionately and do not engage in so-called shadow banning.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The movie’s Twitter account now has more than 339,000 followers. “Unplanned” enjoyed a strong debut weekend, taking $6.1 million from only 1,059 theaters. Fox News’ Caleb Parke, Sasha Savitsky and Lauren Green contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers