Another day, another test of the limits of Twitter's harassment rules.

This time, Twitter's challenge came from Gizmodo Media Group and its news and politics site Splinter, which, on Wednesday afternoon, tweeted out what it reported is White House adviser Stephen Miller's phone number alongside a piece titled, "Here's Stephen Miller's Cell Phone Number, If You Need It." Miller is the reported architect of the Trump administration's zero tolerance immigration policy, which has resulted in the forceful separation of children from their families at the border.

Countless others followed Splinter's lead, starting with Gizmodo Media Group reporters and editors followed by other users who posted screenshots of their texts to Miller. As of this writing, a Twitter search of Miller's number yielded hundreds of tweets containing the number, as well as users who've changed their Twitter display name to his number.



Twitter rules forbid users to publish any private information for public and private figures alike, which includes phone numbers. Typically, this is something you might see from individuals or groups of users as a form of targeted harassment. It's less common, however, for such information to be published by a major media outlet.

A spokesperson for Twitter told BuzzFeed News that publishing Miller's number was a violation of the company's rules. "We are aware of this and are taking appropriate action on content that violates our Terms of Service," the spokesperson said.

Within minutes of posting the Tweet, Twitter temporarily suspended or locked Splinter's account, as well as the accounts of various journalists who tweeted the number. Twitter notes that it is not blanket suspending accounts for this but instituting its deletion requirement policy. This means that in order for users to regain the ability to tweet publicly, they'll need to delete the violating tweet or go through Twitter's formal appeal process. Until they're deleted, violating tweets might be hidden from public view, Twitter's rules state.