Controversial SA tweeter Man's Not Barry Roux silenced by Twitter

Controversial South African-based tweeter Man's Not Barry Roux has had his Twitter account suspended.

Well known for his explosive Sunday morning tweets, @AdvBarryRoux - who was both hero worshipped and despised - was shutdown during the early hours of Saturday morning.

In an emailed response, a Twitter spokesman said: "We do not comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons. Our copyright policy is outlined in the Twitter Rules."

On its website Twitter states that to maintain a safe environment for users, accounts that violate Twitter Rules can be suspended.

It adds that common reasons for suspensions include spam, the account's security being at risk and abusive tweets or behaviour.

Twitter says accounts can be unsuspended through the filing of an appeal.

The anonymous @AdvBarryRoux, who has been linked to the EFF and is commonly referred to as "Twitter CIC" [commander-in-chief], has stoked controversy and sparked national debates through challenging tweets on politics, abuse of power, racism and corruption.

The suspension sparked mixed reaction from South Africans with many demanding to know why the account had been shutdown.

@ThabanSer tweeted: "is Mans Not Barry Roux a complete stupid or a hero"

Tweeting his support of the suspension, @_Bonga tweeted: "Twitter 1st dealt with Daniel Maven by getting rid of his cult of Free Twitter, now it just deal with Barry Roux."

@_magakwe tweeted "So tomorrow it's the first #sundaytwitter without Advocate Barry Rux?"

@kulanicool who hastagged her tweet #ANCManifesto asked "who's gonna a serve us files since they suspended Barry Roux's account".