BREAKING AGAIN: Zoe has just been unsuspended. Thank you so much to the many many people who immediately stepped up on this issue in support of Zoe and contacted LinkedIn. Who knows what was going on behind the scenes. In any case let us hope this platform remains a place where professionals feel able to express views and deal with difficult and emotive issues. Heaven help us if it goes the way of Twitter.

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BREAKING: Prominent climate activist, with large following, removed from this platform without – it would seem – any explanation. Zoe Cohen is missing. Please help bring her back.

She has, if I recall, a folllowing of some 30,000 people, reflective of her tireless efforts as a peaceful protestor to bring the perils of climate change and the need for urgent action to the attention of more people.

I am honoured that Zoe is speaking on our panel for the next PTRC Fireside Chat I am chairing on 16 November which addresses climate action. When I posted on Monday about this event and went to tag Zoe, I couldn’t find her. She had vanished from LinkedIn. How could this be?

I have since been in touch with Zoe and learnt the following.

When she tried to use LinkedIn on Sunday, she couldn’t get access and got a page saying “Your account has been temporarily restricted as a precaution” and asking for her to verify who she was by uploading ID.

She was cautious of this in case of some sort of scam so did a bit of research before reluctantly uploading an image of her passport, hoping this would unlock her account. But actually all that happened was that she received an email from LinkedIn Customer Support saying the following:

“We’ve deemed the activity in your account in violation of the LinkedIn User Agreement and Professional Community Policies. Your appeal has been denied and your account has been restricted permanently.”

Zoe is currently in a DM conversation with LinkedIn via Twitter. She has asked if others might be happy to post about this “as I have no voice or presence on there now”.

I follow(ed) Zoe – I find/found her posts informative, thought provoking and vitally important in relation to climate literacy and news about climate change developments and climate action efforts. I do not recall anything in her many posts and shares that I would have classed as problematic and warranting being permanently silenced. I find this development extremely alarming, raising questions about freedom of speech in a fragile era for humanity when populism and suppression seem to have become real threats.

If you support Zoe can you please share this to signal your concern that she has gone missing. If you have any direct experience of account suspension and how to constructively resolve any misunderstandings in relation to this important professional platform please share this in comments below. If you are uncomfortable sharing anything publicly, please direct message me and I will pass information on to Zoe.

#BringZoeBack