Diamond and Silk Locked Out of Twitter After Telling Followers that Quitting Quarantine Will Make Them 'Immune' to Coronavirus

By Daniel Villarreal On 4/8/20 at 6:08 PM EDT

U.S. Coronavirus Twitter Diamond and Silk

Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, two hosts appearing on Fox News's online streaming service Fox Nation who are widely known as Diamond and Silk, were temporarily locked out of their joint Twitter account for violating the microblogging platform's policy forbidding COVID-19 misinformation.

"The only way we can become immune to the environment; we must be out in the environment. Quarantining people inside of their houses for extended periods will make people sick!" the conservative duo told their 1.4 million Twitter followers.

Their tweet contradicted advisements made by President Donald Trump's Coronavirus Task Force telling citizens to avoid public socializing and unnecessary travel during the epidemic.

Hardaway and Richardson's Twitter account remained locked until they eventually deleted the tweet. They have since regained control of the account.

Newsweek has reached out to Hardaway and Richardson to ask them about their now-deleted tweet. The duo had not responded by the time of publication.

Twitter expanded its rules forbidding COVID-19 misinformation on March 18 of this year. Its expanded policies require users to delete tweets that misleadingly claim to be from government or medical officials, tweets that contradict expert recommendations, tweets that endorse fake coronavirus treatments and tweets alleging that members of any group or nationality are more responsible for or susceptible to the virus.

Diamond and Silk — Fox Nation contributors Diamond (L) and Silk (R) attend the Save the Storks 2nd Annual Stork Charity Ball at the Trump International Hotel on January 17, 2019 in Washington, DC. Paul Morigi/Getty

The duo has made a name for themselves by speaking in favor of Trump and by claiming that social media has sought to censor their conservative views.

During the 2016 election, the sisters became well known as pro-Trump YouTubers who occasionally appeared on stage at his rallies and hosted Women United for Trump events. Given the label "President Trump's most Outspoken and Loyal Supporters," the duo began speaking on conservative pro-Trump media outlets to voice their support for the then-candidate.

In April 2018, the women compared Democrats to slave owners during an interview on Fox News's Fox and Friends. That same month, they also testified to Congress about their belief that Facebook was suppressing their pro-Trump videos.

The sisters said Facebook's policy team had sent them an email that month stating that their content and brand was "determined unsafe to the community." Facebook later reversed the decision and apologized to the women.