Twitter boots ex-pharma exec Martin Shkreli for harassment

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Twitter boots ex-pharma exec Martin Shkreli for harassment

The Associated Press Published Monday, January 9, 2017 9:34AM EST

Martin Shkreli speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington during the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on a decision by his former company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, to significantly raise the price of the anti-parasitic medication Daraprim on Feb. 4, 2016. (AP / Susan Walsh)

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NEW YORK -- Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has been suspended from Twitter for harassing a journalist.

Lauren Duca is a freelance reporter for Teen Vogue who wrote a piece critical of President-elect Donald Trump.

After she defended the story in a testy interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Shkreli invited Duca to accompany him to Trump's inauguration. Duca responded by posting Shkreli's offer on Twitter and saying, "I would rather eat my own organs."

Shkreli later changed his Twitter profile picture to a digitally edited image in which he appeared to be embracing Duca on a couch. Duca tweeted pictures of the change to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Twitter says in a statement that the platform's rules "prohibit targeted harassment, and we will take action on accounts violating those policies."