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Why was 'Memphis' banned on Twitter? Locked out for 12 hours, angry users say: 'They can't ban child porn'

Users who tweeted the word were getting their posts taken down and accounts suspended. The big question is why?

Something strange is going on with Twitter. For a few hours on March 14, the network was banning anyone who tweeted the word 'Memphis'. No warning, just a straight 12-hour lockout of their accounts. The shocking incident has left many angry, especially since no warning was issued by the platform. Why ban a random word? According to the company, it was a 'bug'.

In a statement a few hours ago, Twitter said "A number of accounts that Tweeted the word “Memphis” were temporarily limited due to a bug. It’s been fixed and the accounts have now been restored. We’re sorry this happened." 

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The apology though hasn't satisfied everyone. Some have taken (ironically) to the site to complain against Twitter, pointing out that the company struggles to ban things like child porn. Others have raised complaints through secondary accounts or accounts of their friends, asking to be reinstated. 

'Memphis' is illegal

The odd bug appeared at random, automatically taking down tweets with the word 'Memphis and suspending the accounts for 12 hours. It's unclear who was the first to report the bug, but French football club Olympique Lyon was one of the earliest to make it public. The club shared a picture of their player Memphis Depay, asking "Hey, @Twitter- can we talk about him yet?" The post went viral within minutes, as many users were egged on to tweet the word. 

Some users trapped others by asking innocent questions like "What's the player's name?" Those who dared respond to the challenges have seen their tweets removed and accounts suspended. At the time of writing, Twitter is yet to restore the tweets. Lyon's tweet still contains many "this tweet violated the Twitter rules" tag in the replies. However, it seems like the accounts have been restored. To circumvent the ban, some users have been using accents on some letters, tweeting 'Memphìs' or other variants. Tweeting the world with capitals also seemed to help avoid the bug. 

The bug seems to have been resolved as of now. Tweeting the word will no longer get your account suspended. The situation has made users angry at the service, while some saw the bright side. Plenty of users are now just tweeting the word to celebrate the end of the ban.

'He who can't be named'

Responding to Lyon's tweet, users were both curious and in a mood to troll. One user called Depay posted, "He who can't be named". "Imagine the scenes if Olympique Lyonnais got temporarily banned from Twitter for accidentally saying the name," another tweeted. One user said, "HEY GUYS IM GOING TO SAY A SWEAR WORD !! MEMPHIS !!" Another told Twitter "Please choose a random banned word for each day, it would be hilarious."
 

However, not everyone saw the funny side. One user asked, "Twitter can ban the word Memphis but they can’t ban child porn?" "Absolutely terrible," said another. Another user tweeted, "Hello Twitter, Glad you got that fixed. Now ban the nazis, please. Regards, Customer Support."

Thankfully, it seems like more people saw the funny side rather than it blowing up The word is now trending on Twitter, if you feel like contributing. The real question though - was it really a bug? And more importantly, will we see more such 'bugs' in the future?