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Twitter suspended Rose McGowan after she told Ben Affleck to “fuck off”

UPDATE: About 12 hours after locking Rose McGowan out of her account, Twitter’s Safety team tweeted that they had been in touch “with her team” and explained they’d suspended her for revealing a private phone number in a screenshot she posted — violating Twitter’s rules. The company had previously declined to explain why it had suspended the actress.

Twitter suspended Rose McGowan from using its service for 12 hours after she told Ben Affleck to “fuck off” and called Matt Damon a “spineless profiteer” in relation to Harvey Weinstein’s alleged history of sexual assault and harassment.

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McGowan, one of the most vocal critics of Weinstein and among the first to call out his alleged misconduct, revealed on Instagram Wednesday night that her Twitter account had been suspended by the social media giant.

According to the New York Times, McGowan reached a settlement with Weinstein over undisclosed claims in 1997. In the last week, numerous women have come forward accusing the Miramax founder of assault, harassment, and rape, with the incidents going as far back as 1990.

TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME. THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE. #ROSEARMY #whywomendontreport

A post shared by Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) on

“Twitter has suspended me. There are powerful forces at work, Be my voice,” the actress wrote on the image-sharing site. A message from Twitter said McGowan had violated the company’s rules.

Twitter’s Safety team said in a noontime Thursday statement that it had been in touch with McGowan’s “team,” and that McGowan had been suspended for posting a private phone number in a screenshot. The company had previously declined to give details on McGowan’s suspension.

McGowan was blocked from posting new tweets and retweeting messages and in order to get back full access to her account Twitter demanded she delete “tweets that violate our rules” — though it didn’t initially specify which messages triggered the suspension.

In recent days McGowan had posted multiple messages that are strongly critical of major Hollywood figures, including Affleck and Damon.

On Tuesday she simply wrote “Ben Affleck fuck off” and accused him of lying when he said he didn’t know anything about Weinstein’s history of sexual misconduct.

McGowan also called out Affleck’s longtime collaborator Damon, asking him on Twitter: “What’s it like to be a spineless profiteer who stays silent?”

On Wednesday Affleck, who had earlier condemned Weinstein’s actions, apologized for groping actor Hilarie Burton her during an appearance on MTV’s Total Request Live in 2003.

Twitter’s decision did not go down well with many of its users: