US senators urge Twitter chief to ban Hezbollah and Hamas

A bipartisan group of United States senators have asked Twitter to remove Hamas and Hezbollah-affiliated users and content from the platform.

In a letter to Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, Josh Gottheimer, Tom Reed and Max Rose of New York and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania said they were angered to learn the platform’s definition of a terrorist group differed from the US government definition.

The US government designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation in 1997 and Hamas in 1993. However, the European Union has only branded Hezbollah’s armed wing as terrorist, distinguishing it from the group’s political arm, which holds parliamentary seats in Lebanon.

“There is no place on Twitter for terrorist organisations, violent extremist groups or individuals who affiliate with and promote their illicit activities,” Mr Dorsey wrote in reply to an earlier letter from the senators asking for clarification on Twitter’s policies.

But the service “may make exceptions for groups that have reformed or are engaging in peaceful resolution processes, as well as groups with representatives who have been elected to public office through elections, as is the case with parts of Hamas and Hezbollah”, he said.

The group of four senators issued a furious response to Mr Dorsey’s letter on Tuesday, taking issue with Twitter’s decision to differentiate between political and military factions.

“There is simply no reason why terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, deserve access to Twitter’s platform to promote themselves as sponsors of violent, hate-filled terrorism,” Mr Gottheimer said.

The spat between the politicians and Twitter comes as the platform said world leaders are not entirely above its ban on users threatening violence or promoting terrorism on the site.

The San Francisco company is clarifying its rules as some Democrats say they would like to have US President Donald

Trump banned from Twitter. But while the platform says it will enforce its policies against any user when it comes to material such as child sexual abuse, it does not appear Mr Trump’s account is in imminent danger.

A blog post this week expanded on Twitter’s policy governing tweets. In June, Twitter said world leaders’ tweets that break its rules but have a public-interest value might get a warning label. The label would provide context on the breach and let people click through to the tweet if they want to.