Twitter lifts Guccifer ban after Democrat phone numbers leaking

Twitter has reinstated a suspended account that publicised leaked personal data belonging to Democrat politicians.

On Friday, the hacker known as “Guccifer 2.0” released contact details of 193 current and ex-Congress members.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi later told colleagues she had received “obscene and sick calls” after her phone number was leaked.

Twitter declined to comment on the reasons for the suspension and subsequent reinstatement.

WordPress also blocked some content on Guccifer’s blog which has not been reinstated.

The episode is the latest in a series of leaks of Democratic Party data claimed by Guccifer – including a dump of more than 19,000 emails from Democratic National Committee (DNC) members, which was published via whistle-blowing website Wikileaks in July.

Technical analysis of that leak revealed some suggestions that the source had links to Russia – and US intelligence officials have also asserted such a link.

However, Guccifer has denied accusations that he or she is associated with the Russian state.

Upon returning to Twitter, Guccifer tweeted: “Here I am! They’ll have to try much harder to block me!”

Twitter declined to comment on the reasons for the suspension and subsequent reinstatement.

‘Obscene calls’

“I am changing my phone number, and I advise you to do so as well,” senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to party colleagues.

“On a personal note, I was in the air flying from Florida to California when the news broke.

“Upon landing, I have received scores of mostly obscene and sick calls, voicemails and text messages.”

Besides contact information, the latest leak contained documents relating to the election campaign and details about some Democratic politicians’ staff members.

The FBI is leading an investigation into the leaks.

Source: BBC