TORONTO -- Will Sloan didnât care much for the new Star Wars character fans have dubbed âBaby Yoda.â
The tiny character appears on Disney+âs âThe Mandalorianâ show, and its cuddly appearance is saturating pop culture news.
But all of this hype irked Sloan, a Toronto-based podcaster, so he tweeted his displeasure and it led to him being flagged by Twitter for harassment.
Sloan got pushed over the edge by a Facebook tease for Esquire magazineâs Baby Yoda article, which reads: âThe Mandalorian has made Baby Yoda an icon of purity -- a rare moment where we cross the internet aisle to simply say, âThis is good.ââ
So out of frustration, last Thursday, Sloan jokingly tweeted at the magazine: âI actually hope he dies painfully.â
Within 15 or 20 minutes, he said claiming he violated its .
Sloan was informed he could still browse Twitter and send Direct Messages but wouldnât be able to make or favourite tweets for the next seven days. In a phone interview, he told CTVNews.ca it was like being in âTwitter jail.â
Within days, his friend Jesse Hawken jokingly started the hashtag âFreeWillSloanâ and tagged self-described free speech advocates to hear about how Sloanâs speech was being muzzled.
âBasically it was a joke ⌠and I thought it was funny,â Sloan laughed. âThis banning -- it just seemed like the absolutely dumbest thing you could be banned for.â
THREATS ARE COMMON ON SITE: SLOAN
In an email to CTVNews.ca, Twitter Canada spokesperson Cam Gordon said, âwe don't comment on individual tweets or the status of individual accounts as a matter of privacy for users.â
After trying to appeal Twitterâs decision, Sloan settled for just reading the deluge of joke tweets supporting him. It was âweeksâ worth of laughs out of this ridiculousness,â he said.
Sloan also used his Twitter accounts for two podcasts he co-hosts to point out that heâd simply threatened a fictional character.
He also pointed out the siteâs hypocrisy in flagging him but allowing U.S. President Donald Trump to regularly tweet threats of war against countries such as North Korea, as well as the platform failing to clamp down on sexist, racist threats against elected officials, female gamers or women in media.
âBut apparently, the taboo is that you canât make fun of puppets owned by Disney,â Sloan said.
As for the future, âI donât plan to wish death on Yoda again,â he said. But as for other fictional characters, âlike Twitter, Iâll take it (on) a case-by-case basis.â