Twitter Hides Donald Trump’s Minneapolis Threat Post For ‘Glorifying Violence’
By Thanussha Priyah, 01 Jun 2020
Image via Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com
President Donald Trump had his Twitter posts marked as “glorifying violence” under Twitter’s policy.
After previously labeling Trump’s tweets about voting via mail as “potentially misleading,” the social media company has hidden and issued a “public interest notice” over Trump’s tweet regarding the Minneapolis protests prompted by George Floyd’s untimely death.
The notice replaced the contents of Trump’s tweet with a warning, and any social media user who wishes to see the post will have to click the “view” button.
The notice also restricts engagements for the post, so users can only retweet it with a comment, but cannot like it, reply to, or retweet it.
In his tweet, Trump had threatened the use of “military” against the demonstration in Minneapolis for the Black Lives Matter movement sparked by the George Floyd incident. “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” Trump wrote.
Many Twitter users weren’t pleased with the president’s approach with using violence against civilians. He had also referred to the protesters as “thugs [who] are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd” in the post.
In response to Twitter hiding his tweet, Trump’s administration quoted the post and shared it on the official White House Twitter account to amplify the president’s threat. However, the social media company was quick to hide the tweet with another public interest notice over the post, as well.
Less than 24 hours after @realDonaldTrump signed an executive order to force tech companies to allow free speech & Twitter is censoring him again. His tweet saying he'll send in the National Guard was flagged for "glorifying violence." Meanwhile tweets glorifying riots stay up! pic.twitter.com/62rvKoQAZg
— Liberty Hangout (@LibertyHangout) May 29, 2020
We have placed a public interest notice on this Tweet from @realdonaldtrump. https://t.co/6RHX56G2zt
— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) May 29, 2020
“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!” https://t.co/GDwAydcAOw
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 29, 2020
....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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020
[via TechCrunch, cover image via Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com]