Why Is #HillaryForPrision Trending on Twitter?

Donald Trump rally
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally, Tallahassee, Florida, October 25. A lawyer who advises Trump says he has had discussions with the British Foreign Office. Mark Wallheiser/Getty

Donald Trump supporters on Twitter are using a misspelled version of one of their favorite anti-Hillary Clinton attack lines because they believe the social network is censoring them.

The hashtag "#HillaryForPrision" is trending at number two in the U.S.; it's a misspelled version of #HillaryForPrison, a standard pro-Trump hashtag that grew out of the varied, unsubstantiated accusations Trump's supporters throw at the Democratic nominee.

A look down the tweets on the hashtag shows a fairly standard collection of pro-Trump rhetoric, slamming Clinton, the media and the Republican establishment.

But pro-Trump users are also making clear they believe that Twitter has censored the #HillaryForPrison hashtag, stopping it appearing in Twitter's trending list.

When the trending hashtag is #HillaryForPrision because Twitter has a block on #HillaryForPrison. Fun times.

— Please Stand By For An Important Message 🌻 (@stldesktop) October 31, 2016

Twitter declined to comment on the accusations, but directed Newsweek to a section of its FAQ that stresses: "Trends are determined by an algorithm and, by default, are tailored for you based on who you follow and your location," and also to a story by the Huffington Post that quotes a Twitter spokesperson dismissing similar conspiracy theories and saying that "the actual reason a topic doesn't trend is because its popularity isn't as widespread as supporters believe.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Josh is a staff writer covering Europe, including politics, policy, immigration and more.

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