Well-known Twitter account @YourAnonNews, which has nearly 800,000 followers, has been suspended. Users trying to visit the account's profile page are greeted with a message that the account has been suspended by Twitter. @YourAnonNews has been one of the primary accounts used by hacker group Anonymous, and the group has claimed credit for multiple attacks from it. Another account used by Anonymous, called @Anon_Central, has confirmed that Twitter pulled down the account, and it reports that the social network explained that "you may not publish or post other people's private and confidential information." That quote comes directly from Twitter's terms of use, but it's not clear why this action is being taken now, as Anonymous has posted links to data dumps containing addresses and other personal information before. We have reached out to Twitter for comment on the situation.

It's official @twitter reply : You may not publish or post other people's private and confidential information. | #YAN #Anonymous — Anonymous Operations (@Anon_Central) December 19, 2012

Update: Twitter has declined to comment, saying "We don't comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons."

Update 2: It appears that the suspension may have something to do with Anonymous' recent attack on the Westboro Baptist Church. A tweet from a self-proclaimed @YourAnonNews backup account has posted a screenshot of an email from Twitter, which links the suspension to a tweet that exposed personal information belonging to WBC lawyer and member Shirley Phelps-Roper. While we can't confirm the reason for the suspension, it wouldn't be a surprise if the Westboro Baptist Church intervened; it is well-versed in the law, and as the Southern Poverty Law Center notes, it has made a portion of its income by settling civil lawsuits.

Update: The account has now been reinstated, as noted by The Next Web. A new tweet from the account also reiterated the above claim that it had been suspended for posting information about Phelps-Roper.