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Houston Rockets' Twitter account suspended after copyright complaints

The Rockets allegedly violated Twitter's rules.

Queenie Wong Former Senior Writer
Queenie Wong was a senior writer for CNET News, focusing on social media companies including Facebook's parent company Meta, Twitter and TikTok. Before joining CNET, she worked for The Mercury News in San Jose and the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon. A native of Southern California, she took her first journalism class in middle school.
Expertise I've been writing about social media since 2015 but have previously covered politics, crime and education. I also have a degree in studio art. Credentials
  • 2022 Eddie award for consumer analysis
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Queenie Wong
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Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco.

 James Martin/CNET

The Houston Rockets appeared to have fouled on their Twitter account. 

The basketball team's Twitter account was suspended following copyright complaints, Twitter said Monday. The tech company declined to share more about the complaints or if this suspension was temporary.

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The Houston Rockets' Twitter account has been suspended.

 Screenshot by Queenie Wong/CNET

A message on the Rockets' account says Twitter suspends accounts that violate its rules. Twitter may suspend an account if it receives multiple copyright complaints.

The Rockets didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The team told the Houston Chronicle in a statement that the account was temporarily pulled down because they posted tweets with copyrighted music. 

"We are working to correct the issue now," the Rockets said in the statement.

Twitter users took to the social media site to poke fun at the suspension and speculate why the account went silent.

Even Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, weighed in on the suspension by tweeting "This aggression will not stand, man."

The Rockets were eliminated in the playoffs this month after losing to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals. On Monday, the ESPN Bay Area Twitter account tweeted that Warriors point guard Steph Curry "not only erased the Rockets from the postseason, but he has now erased their twitter account."

Nearly 3 million people follow the Houston Rockets on Twitter. Several college football and gymnastic teams reportedly got their Twitter accounts suspended over the weekend for posting tweets with copyrighted music as well.