Twitter on Friday sounded an all-out war against US President Donald Trump by flagging a fresh tweet from him that violated Twitter policies about glorifying violence.
Twitter placed a public interest notice on the latest Tweet from Trump that read: “….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
The micro-blogging platform said this Tweet violates its policies regarding the glorification of violence “based on the historical context of the last line, its connection to violence, and the risk it could inspire similar actions today”.
The public interest notice read: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible”.
“People will be able to Retweet with Comment, but will not be able to Like, Reply or Retweet” this particular Trump tweet in question.
“We’ve taken action in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts, but have kept the Tweet on Twitter because it is important that the public still be able to see the Tweet given its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance,” explained Twitter.
The latest Twitter action came after Trump hit back against social media platforms with an executive order on “preventing online censorship” and skewering Twitter for “political bias”, after Twitter fact-checked his earlier tweets.
Trump’s actions seek to blunt Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act which generally protects internet companies from legal liability for user comments.
Trump’s offensive came on the back of fact checks by Twitter which took the form of a hyperlink that tagged onto exactly two of Trump’s tweets and said “Get the facts about mail-in ballots”.
–IANS
