Twitter Suspends Elite Dangerous Player for Posting Poem About Killing Aliens

Fighting aliens is a major aspect of the title of Elite Dangerous. However, one Elite Dangerous player has had his Twitter account suspended after posting a poem referring to this alien combat in reply to a poem that the official Elite Dangerous Twitter account had posted on the social media platform. 

According to a report by Eurogamer, Tim Wellens, a Belgian Elite Dangerous Player, was suspended from Twitter after posting the following poem reply to the title's Twitter account that had posted its own poem in celebration of National Poetry Day.

"Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Thargoid or foe,
I will come to kill you."

Wellen's seemingly harmless reply was to this following post by the Elite Dangerous Twitter account. 

"There once was a pilot from Lave,
Who wasn't particularly brave.
He encountered a Thargoid,
Who he tried to avoid,
But now he's one foot in the grave!"

There once was a pilot from Lave,
Who wasn't particularly brave.
He encountered a Thargoid,
Who he tried to avoid,
But now he's one foot in the grave!#NationalPoetryDay pic.twitter.com/yrHl1O0M1c

— Elite Dangerous (@EliteDangerous) October 4, 2018

The Twitter suspended Elite Dangerous player then received an email from the platform stating that he had violated the policy of Twitter that users "may not make specific threats of violence or wish for the physical harm, death or disease of an individual or group of people". Wellens has since appealed his suspension from Twitter, but to no luck has not seen any traction and remains suspended from the social media platform. 

Speaking to Eurogamer, Wellens explained what he had relayed to Twitter in order to explain what Elite Dangerous was and how his poem should not have been taken as a violation of the platform's policy against threatening posts. 

""I explained that Elite is a space game and that Thargoids are a fictional alien species in a game, and that I never ever threatened a real person or organisation on Twitter," said Wellens. "Thargoid or foe, I'm coming to kill you, was directed to the Thargoids and enemies in game. In the beginning I was very angry as I follow a lot of friends who I've known for a long time."

Unfortunately for the Elite Dangerous player, his attempt at interacting with the Twitter account of a title he enjoys playing has resulted in him being suspended from the social media platform for the foreseeable future.

(cover photo courtesy of Steam)