Why Won't X Restore The Account Of Independent Journalist Nick Monroe?

Nick Monroe is one of the most prolific investigative citizen journalists on the internet.  His work, which has been covered in publications such as the Daily Caller, PJ Media, Breitbart, and other alternative news platforms, has been instrumental in uncovering important stories.  Fandom Pulse was one of the first publications to do a deep dive into Sweet Baby Inc. earlier this year, introducing the internet to its CEO, Kim Belair.  Most of the information that made this five-part series possible was on the strength of Nick Monroe's investigative work.

Unfortunately, in August, Nick Monroe was banned from X primarily due to his investigation of Andrew and Tristan Tate, who he has enmity with due to the Tate Brothers' allegations of being involved in sex trafficking.  However, Monroe resurfaced last week on his alt account @LobsterLooker, on Election Day of all days, and has gone back to his info-gathering ways of covering the ongoing effects of the recent re-election of President-Elect Donald Trump.  However, this isn't the first time Nick Monroe has run afoul of X's Terms of Service.  The ban was a result of his investigation, which some found controversial, into the Tate Brothers' alleged involvement in sex trafficking. 

In recent years, X's TOS, though still somewhat arbitrary in its enforcement, has been relatively lenient compared to other platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.  But in March of 2023, Nick Monroe got into a very heated argument with Gregg Re of the DailyWire due to what Monroe believes was a softball approach to the Tate Brothers, which resulted in Re requesting Ella Irwin, former Trust and Safety Lead at X, to have Monroe's 'crabcrawler1' account banned.  Furthermore, his original X account (then known as Twitter) was banned in 2019 for running afoul of the Twitter 1.0 staff that arbitrarily banned users, primarily non-leftists, including President-Elect Trump, after the January 6, 2021 riots.  Even though Nick Monroe has a groundswell of support to reinstate him, including ALX, TheGatorGamer, and even Gregg Re himself, X, for an unknown reason, has refused to reinstate both his crabcrawler1 account and his original account that was unjustly banned by Twitter 1.0 staff.

To that end, Nick Monroe sought legal counsel to reinstate his 'crabcrawler1' account and possibly reinstate his titular account, which was banned in 2019.  His work has significantly impacted the community, and his reinstatement is crucial for continuing his investigative journalism. 

To fund any legal interactions with X, he has launched a GiveSendGo to raise the $3,000 retainer he needs to do so.  If you choose, you can donate to Nick Monroe's legal fund using this link.  With your help, one of the internet's most thorough and talented investigative journalists can return to work at total capacity, fulfilling Elon Musk's goals of X being the home of citizen journalism and with the transition of the incoming second Trump Administration, the ongoing AAA video game industry crash, the downfall of Hollywood, and other events that are on the table for 2025, having one of the best investigative journalists on the sidelines would do us all a huge disservice.

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Article by Aaron Alexander