Confusion as Daily Mail claims Jeremy Vine suspended by Twitter "over anti-motorist tweeting"... but presenter says newspaper has the wrong account

In a somewhat bizarre case study of social media-based newsc Jeremy Vine and a Daily Mail journalist have clashed over an article published by the latter which claims Twitter suspended the presenter's account "for breaking its 'hateful content' rules after naming woman who opposes 'dangerous' cycling lane".

The article was published on the Mail Online website on Friday evening and updated again yesterday morning. In the piece, journalist Katie Hind reports Vine's account was locked by Twitter, the social media company confirmed "for breaking our hateful content rule".

However, confusingly, Vine is adamant "at no point was my account locked, so far as I can tell" and said "the whole thing is a bit of a mystery". Adding another level of confusion, the Mail piece includes a statement from Twitter which says the account suspended was @jeremyvine, the real Vine's account is instead @theJeremyVine, leading to suggestions the article has got the wrong account.

"Looking at it more closely — since my account isn't @jeremyvine, I'm starting to think the story (by @katiehind) may not have been anything to do with me at all," the presenter tweeted.

Hind has since accused Vine of "repeated attempts to weasel his way out of a true and bona fide story", said the @jeremyvine mention was "clearly a typo" and offered the screenshot below as evidence...

Dearest Jeremy, that is not the screenshot I sent you, this one is. And it is your account - @theJeremyVine pic.twitter.com/jg49BZ6mPN

— Katie Hind (@katiehind) May 7, 2023

Replying to the story, Vine said: "For what it's worth, the newspaper article yesterday saying my Twitter account was locked was very, very misleading. 1. If it was locked, I never lost the use of it for even a minute. 2. If it was locked, it was caused — not by 'a hateful tweet', as reported — but by a number of people all reporting the account simultaneously, which creates an auto-response by Twitter. Only when a human being at Twitter follows up do they see bad actors have ganged up to close an account.

"3. None of my tweets broke any rules and none have been taken down since the alleged 'locking.' 4. The complained-of tweet was from nearly a year ago and it is still up. 5. Far from me naming the person who leads the anti-cycling group in west London, she had already given an interview under her own name to the, um, Daily Mail. 6. Whoever got the account 'locked' immediately sent a screenshot to the Mail who didn't include points 1-5 in their misleading piece. Such is life."

Hind's piece notes "The Mail searched Vine's Twitter timeline for the message at the centre of the row but could not find it."

Replying to Hind's screenshot suggesting the account @theJeremyVine was suspended, Vine said: "I suspect the reason Katie couldn't find the 'offending' tweet is because she searched the wrong account. Had she not done so, she would have realised the tweet was still up; broke no rules; and she was writing a complete non-story, not to say a misleading one.

Being trolled doesn’t scare me one bit but the BBC’s @theJeremyVine’s repeated attempts to weasel his way out of a true and bona fide story are really becoming a bit sad now

— Katie Hind (@katiehind) May 7, 2023

It is a serious error. You associated me with a suspended account which is not mine. Please stop this. You've made a terrible hash of trying to do a hitjob on me, and now it's all come out you've started attacking me personally on Twitter to cover your tracks.

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) May 7, 2023

 The Mail story also heard from a "BBC insider" who said "[Vine] hasn't been reined in but it is becoming an issue and has certainly been noted by some of the executives. The view is very much 'watch this space'."

A BBC spokesperson told the newspaper "Jeremy is aware of his duty under the BBC's social media guidelines". road.cc has contacted the BBC for further comment.