The case of Spurs footballer Mikey Moore, and what happened next
͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­
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Was I suspended from X for asking a question about myocarditis?

The case of Spurs footballer Mikey Moore, and what happened next

Norman Fenton
Apr 24
 
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https://youtube.com/shorts/3Mx4NxwuK3I

In the short video above, I explain why it is at least possible that my recent suspension from X was triggered by a post about Tottenham Hotspur’s young player Mikey Moore.

Where are the numbers? by Norman Fenton and Martin Neil is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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Moore was diagnosed with myocarditis in 2024/25. Like most professional footballers, he was very likely vaccinated against Covid in 2022. My post simply asked whether that was the case:

Note, I did not claim that the vaccine caused his condition. I asked a factual question about vaccination status in a context where mandates for professional and academy footballers were widely reported at the time.

The post attracted significant attention, along with a predictable wave of hostile replies and quote-posts. It was the last post I made before being suspended the following day.

Of course there may be an unrelated explanation for my suspension. But given what followed, that explanation is far from obvious.

A suspension without explanation

My account had only recently been recovered after a hack, as I reported last month. I regained access, restored security, and resumed normal use. Within days, it was suspended again, as I reported in the following earlier video yesterday:

https://youtube.com/shorts/Z-ECXbY-74s

The reason given by X was “suspicious activity” and an inability to verify my identity.

This makes little sense:

  • I have a paid, verified (blue tick) account

  • Two-factor authentication is enabled

  • I was issued a backup recovery code by X itself

Despite this, I am now locked out, unable to verify my identity, and caught in an automated loop with no meaningful human response.

The practical consequences

This is not a trivial inconvenience.

My account had over 94,000 followers, and in the past few weeks, between the hack and the suspension, I have already lost more than 2,000.

The timing is particularly damaging. I was preparing to promote my forthcoming book:

The Capture of Academia: How Universities Shape Power, Silence Dissent, and Influence Society

Losing access at this point significantly disrupts that effort.

A wider concern

It would be easy to dismiss this as a technical failure, but it is troubling that a verified user, with full security measures in place, can:

  • ask a legitimate question

  • receive coordinated hostility

  • and then lose access to their platform without clear explanation or recourse

Even though there is no explicit censorship, the outcome is the same.

Final thought

I cannot say with certainty that the Mikey Moore post caused my suspension.

But I can say that the sequence of events, combined with the inability, or unwillingness,of X to resolve the issue, raises serious questions about how such platforms operate.

If accounts can effectively disappear under these conditions, then the line between technical failure and functional censorship becomes very thin indeed.

Appendix

Here is the letter I sent to the London Office of X by recorded delivery (it was signed for today):

X Legal Letter Redacted Version
348KB ∙ PDF file
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