#HillaryForPrision is trending, but not for the reason Clinton haters think

#HillaryForPrision is trending, but it's not because Twitter is suppressing the correctly spelled version of the hashtag.
 By 
Colin Daileda
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

#HillaryForPrision (notice the extra "i") is trending. Depending on who you ask, that's either because the person who made the hashtag can't spell, or Twitter will censor negative hashtags lobbed at the Democratic nominee if opponents spell prison correctly.

Whatever the reason, the hashtag is the second-largest trending topic on Twitter as of this writing, right behind "Happy Halloween."

Many users are tweeting about the censorship claim while using the hashtag.


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And many others are pointing out the misspelling while using the hashtag to poke at Hillary Clinton's opponents.

The debate, if you can call it that, comes after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accused Twitter, Google and Facebook of "burying the FBI criminal investigation of Clinton" on Sunday.

And if that's as far as his evidence goes, then Trump's accusation is a bit mind-numbing.

First, the FBI has not reopened its investigation into Clinton's emails, which ended in July when the agency recommended filing no charges against her for operating a private email server when she was secretary of state. Rather, the agency said last week they are reviewing newly discovered emails connected to a separate investigation involving a defamed ex-congressman, Anthony Weiner. Weiner was once married to Clinton's top aide, Huma Abedin. It's unclear if any of the emails are connected to Clinton, and the FBI isn't expected to complete its review until after Election Day.

Second, Google, Twitter and Facebook all prominently featured stories about the new emails on Friday. Google News had a story about the emails at the top of its list. Twitter moments ran with a story about it. FBI Director James Comey was trending on Facebook.

There's also scant evidence Twitter was or is trying to suppress a properly spelled #HillaryForPrison hashtag.

Search that hashtag, and you'll find plenty of tweets.

And if Twitter was suppressing a properly spelled hashtag, what's to stop them from suppressing this misspelled one?

Twitter didn't comment on this specific story, but they've commented on trending conspiracy theories in the past.

“As elections approach in countries around the world we hear conspiracy theories about political trend manipulation,” a company spokesperson told The Huffington Post in February. “But the actual reason a topic doesn’t trend is because its popularity isn’t as widespread as supporters believe.”

Social media platforms have been embroiled in bias issues in the past, so the skepticism from right-wing users isn't new. In May, Gizmodo published a story suggesting Facebook employees censored news from conservative outlets, a claim those outlets clung to as if to say "I told you so." However, the story seemed to indicate more that Facebook was simply trying to ensure the accuracy of articles that appeared in its "trending" news box.

So what have we really learned today? Simply that on Halloween, "prision" is more popular than prison.

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Colin Daileda

Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.

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