Twitter Shadow Bans ‘Star Wars’ Actress Gina Carano After Controversial Tweets

Carano has frequently used her Twitter and Instagram accounts to share her conservative political views, which have often included statements supporting former President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud, as well as widely mocking the use of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In a screenshot captured from her Instagram story, Carano shared a post that compared being a conservative in the current United States political climate to being a Jewish citizen in Nazi-era Germany.

“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors...even by children,” the post read. “Because history is edited, most people today don't realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”

The post caused #FireGinaCarano to trend once again, this time prompting a formal response from Lucasfilm that ultimately led to the termination of her acting career with Disney.   

“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”

Carano’s character was initially so popular that Lucasfilm had planned for Carano to star in her very own Disney+ series, according to a December investor’s day presentation. However, due to the controversy surrounding her tweets, the project never moved forward.

Although Twitter denies that a shadow ban actually exists, fans recently discovered that if you search for Gina Carano’s Twitter page on their official site, her page does not automatically appear as it once did.

Instead, Twitter says that their algorithm ranks tweets on multiple factors, including whether they come from “bad-faith actors who intend to manipulate or divide the conversation.”

In addition, her Twitter page has been branded with a “sensitive content warning,” which the user must accept in order to view her page.

“Caution: This profile may include potentially sensitive content,” the message reads. “You’re seeing this warning because they Tweet potentially sensitive images or language. Do you still want to view it?”

After she received the ban, Carano, 38, posted a selfie of herself smiling into the camera, with the caption “*sensitive content*.”

Fan reaction was divided, with one fan writing, “When it comes to public figures losing jobs because they've expressed racist views or conspiracy, I have no sympathy. As far as I'm concerned, if you work in the public eye then you have a duty to be partisan and professional. Piers Morgan and Gina Carano both crossed those lines.”

Still, Carano seemed to have plenty of fans in her corner, with another tweeting, “This is marked 'Sensitive Content' because she exercised free speech?? Thanks Mom and Dad for protecting me from this very attractive, talented, evil person. At least I know this is not the forum to voice personal views or beliefs — unless approved by Twitter of course.”

At least she still has Instagram.