Twitter Suspends the Account of a Prominent Venture Capitalist Who Supports Elon Musk, Paul Graham, After He Tweets About a Mastodon Link

By Vaibhavi On Dec 20, 2022

Sunday, the Twitter account of Paul Graham, a well-respected venture capitalist who has supported Elon Musk’s efforts on Twitter, was suspended.

Graham was suspended following a tweet in which he stated, “This is the last straw. I give up. My website contains a link to my new Mastodon profile.”

In that tweet, he provided a link to a new Twitter policy prohibiting users from linking to competing social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Post, and Nostr.

This policy prohibits various methods of circumvention, such as writing “Instagram dot com/username” to avoid creating a link.

Graham’s account appears to have been suspended because he posted a link to his new Mastodon profile on his website. That could be considered by Twitter to be a workaround.

Fortune reached out to Twitter but did not immediately receive a response.

Gergely Orosz, a technology author, noted the suspension on his own Twitter account, writing, “Paul Graham, the founder of Y Combinator and a supporter of Elon Musk since the Twitter takeover, announced he’s taking a break from Twitter and suggested his Mastodon account can be found on his website. A couple of hours later, he was banned. “I can’t believe it…”

Howard Lerman, the co-founder of several tech startups, also expressed surprise in a tweet: “Paul Graham (formerly @paulg) defines every attribute one could hope for on a social network: profound, civil, thoughtful, honest, direct, polite, active, responsive to all, and inclusive. I’m sure I missed a great deal of what he is. And I’m going to hear him here.”

On Mastodon, which is widely regarded as an alternative to Twitter for users weary of Musk’s anarchy, Graham remained characteristically diplomatic, writing, “I have not ‘left Twitter.’ I simply do not wish to continue using it while it prohibits links to other websites. In addition, given the current state of affairs, it seemed like a good time to learn more about Mastodon.”

He added, “FYI, I still wish Elon Twitter success. Why desire failure for others? For me, however, the prohibition on posting links to other accounts was inexcusable.”

Additionally, others commented on the suspension. Alexis Ohanian, the founder and general partner of venture capital firm 776, described Graham as “royalty” in Silicon Valley. On Sunday, he tweeted, “Strange. @PaulG was suspended (for *directing people to his website for a link to his mastodon).” This will become extremely, extremely interesting. PG is the king of SV.”