White separatist Jared Taylor and his American Renaissance group are suing Twitter for permanently suspending their accounts.

The suit, which is being filed in San Francisco Superior Court, argues that "Twitter took this action only because it disagreed with the content of their tweets, not because Taylor or American Renaissance violated the company's terms of service," according to a press release.

In December, Twitter began enforcing an updated policy aimed at reducing hateful and abusive content. The changes included a ban on promoting violence and hate in usernames or bios, possible permanent suspension of accounts that threaten violence or death and a ban accounts that feature hate symbols and images.

American Renaissance says suspending the accounts is "censorship," and that the suit is about defending freedom of speech.

"Twitter has capriciously enforced vague 'terms of service' for the sole purpose of silencing voices with which it disagrees," the release says.

According to the organization, Twitter said the suspensions are in line with its "terms of service" and that the accounts are "affiliated with a violent extremist group." American Renaissance argues that its members have never claimed any connection to violence.

The release also says the accounts never engaged in trolling or abusive language, stating that Taylor and American Renaissance "always practiced gentlemanly debate and respectful disagreement," when running the accounts.

This isn't the first time Twitter has taken action against similar accounts. In November, it removed the verification badge from accounts linked to white nationalists like Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said later that month that Twitter has a "double standard" in how it treats conservative users. 

On Wednesday, the social media platform confirmed it's cleaning the site by purging accounts that can't prove they're human, outraging conservative and far-right users who lost thousands of followers overnight. Many felt it was a targeted attack by Twitter. 

Taylor and American Renaissance are being represented by Marc Randazza, who also represents Andrew Anglin, publisher of the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website.

Taylor wasn't immediately available for comment. 

A Twitter spokeswoman said "We won't have a comment on the lawsuit specifically." 

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