Miami mayoral candidate Emilio González just had X account suspended due to an alleged violation of the platform’s rules.
His campaign says he’s posted nothing that warrants his account being blocked and is accusing his “political rivals” of orchestrating the suspension through fraudulent complaints.
“This comes straight out of the socialist playbook,” González said in a statement Friday morning.
“First, they tried to cancel this year’s election to deny Miami voters their voice. Now, they’re leaning on big tech censorship and dirty tricks to suppress our Miami First movement. Let me be clear: they will not succeed.”
A screenshot of the suspended account. The suspension happened overnight, between Thursday and Friday.
It’s difficult to ascertain whom González, a Republican former Miami City Manager, is referring to as “they.” The Miami Commission voted 3-2 in June to delay the city’s election, with “yes” votes coming from Democrats Christine King and Damian Pardo and Republican Ralph Rosado.
Current Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, also a Republican, supported the move, which courts later struck down as unconstitutional after González sued the city.
None of the Commissioners who voted for the change are running for Mayor. Suarez is prohibited by term limits from running for a third four-year term.
His now 14 opponents for Mayor — including current City Commissioner Joe Carollo, who entered the race Thursday, two days before the qualifying deadline — have varying political affiliations.
The campaign of his top Democratic foe for the job, Miami-Dade Commissioner Eileen Higgins, says she had “zero” involvement with González’s suspension.
“Given Republicans are in control of censorship, he should check with his own party,” Higgins’ political adviser Christian Ulvert said.
Patrick Villalonga, González’s campaign policy adviser, said campaign staff woke Friday morning to find the account locked. He suspects that numerous complaints lodged against one of González’s most recent posts, about the Florida Department of Government Efficiency initiative by state CFO Blaise Ingoglia aimed at cutting government waste, triggered the suspension.
A similar or identical post is still up on González’s personal X account, which has significantly more followers than his campaign account and also features campaign-related content.
“We’re waiting for more research to be done,” he said. “We have contacted X to get more information, and we’re waiting for them to get back to us.”
X accounts may be suspended for spam or fake activity, security risks from hacking, or abusive behavior such as threats or impersonation.
In many cases, users can restore access by verifying their identity through email or phone prompts, unlocking a temporarily restricted account, or by filing an appeal if they believe the suspension was a mistake.
If an appeal fails but a user still wants to deactivate their account, they must first go through the appeal process before submitting a request for deletion.
González is one of eight candidates for Mayor who qualified for the raceby 11 a.m. Friday. The deadline is 6 p.m. Saturday.
Miami’s nonpartisan election is Nov. 4 and also includes races for the District 3 and District 5 seats on the City Commission.
