NFL Complaints Lead Twitter to Suspend Accounts of Popular Sports News Sites Over GIFs, Vines

NEW YORK (AP) -- Twitter accounts for websites Deadspin and SB Nation were suspended by the social media platform Monday night after the NFL filed notices related to their use of copyrighted video highlights.

The NFL told The Associated Press that it requested Twitter "disable links to more than a dozen pirated NFL game videos and highlights that violate the NFL's copyright," adding that it did not request that any Twitter accounts be disabled.

The NFL sent 18 Digital Millennium Copyright Act notices regarding the Gawker-owned Deadspin account, said Gawker social media strategist Terron Moore via Twitter.

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Both suspended accounts regularly use GIFs of highlights from sporting events, including NFL games. The SB Nation account that was suspended, @SBNationGIF, specializes in such highlights.

The main Deadspin account was down for roughly an hour before being re-activated around 8 p.m. EDT, while @SBNationGIF was still suspended.

TEST ... TEST ... https://t.co/VKN0osQQXl pic.twitter.com/BOStDQQ4yr

— Deadspin (@Deadspin)

October 13, 2015

Both Deadspin and SB Nation still had NFL video highlights featured on their sites, and the Deadspin account still included posts with GIFs from NFL game broadcasts when it was re-activated.

Deadspin, which doesn't hide its disdain for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, announced its return by tweeting a photo linking to a story titled "The Many Horrible, Stupid Faces Of Roger Goodell: A Gallery Of Authoritarian Derp."

Taste Roger Goodell's wrath with our NFL Punishment Generator: https://t.co/mhm6aAoHNb pic.twitter.com/neQPE8O0Qq

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) October 13, 2015

In August, the NFL and Twitter announced a two-year content and advertising deal that expanded upon prior relationships between the league and the social media platform. The deal promised to funnel more NFL video highlights and pictures from games through Twitter, with the site using an automated formula to prominently display NFL tweets and related ads in the streams of accountholders likely to enjoy the information.