Twitter hides Trump tweet on Minneapolis for ‘glorifying violence’
● President quotes 1960s police chief who sparked race riots in Miami as he threatens use of National Guard in Minneapolis
Donald Trump has again accused Twitter of targeting him, after the social media platform hid a tweet “glorifying violence” around the protests over the death in custody of a black man in Minneapolis.
The US president said yesterday that legal protections which allow social media sites to remove content they deem inappropriate was akin to censorship and should be revoked by Congress.
“Twitter is doing nothing about all of the lies & propaganda being put out by China or the Radical Left Democrat Party. They have targeted Republicans, Conservatives & the President of the United States. Section 230 should be revoked by Congress. Until then, it will be regulated,” Mr Trump said.
Earlier this week, Twitter placed fact-checking labels on two tweets from the president’s personal account which made claims about fraud in US postal voting.
On Thursday the platform then also took action against another of Mr Trump’s tweets. The president tweeted after protesters, angered by the death of the black man George Floyd in police custody, set fire to a police station.
Mr Trump had said he would “send in the National Guard” to end the protests, before adding in a second tweet that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”.
In a statement, Twitter said: “This tweet violates our 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.
“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.
“As is standard with this notice, engagements with the tweet will be limited. People will be able to retweet with comment, but will not be able to like, reply or retweet it.”
The phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” was coined by Miami Police Chief Walter Headley in 1967, in reference to his aggressive policing policies in black neighbourhoods.
Mr Trump accused Twitter of censorship, and yesterday the official White House Twitter account re-posted a full quote of the now-hidden tweet to its own page in a show of defiance against the warning labels.
Shortly afterwards, Twitter also covered the White House tweet with the same warning message.
The row comes after Mr Trump signed an executive orderaimedatremovingsome of the legal protections granted to social media sites.
The order is expected to face legal challenges and has been labelled largely symbolic by commentators.
In its response to the executive order, Twitter called the president’s actions a political move targeting free speech.
“This EO [executive order] is a reactionary and politicised approach to a landmark law,” the firm said.
“#Section230protectsamerican innovation and freedom of expression, and it’s underpinned by democratic values. Attempts to unilaterally erode it threaten the future of online speech and Internet freedoms.”
It remains unclear what, if any, action will be taken in future against social media firms in the US as a result of the president’s executive order.
However social media consultant and industry expert
Matt Navarra described it as “mostly political theatrics” and said users around the world were unlikely to see any changes to the service.
“It’s largely toothless right now.
“It puts the platforms on warning that he may try to make life tougher for them and do them no favours, but that’s been the state of affairs between the two parties for some time now anyway,” he said.
“I suspect the major social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook will continue to stand firm with their position on moderation and factchecking, whilst Trump will bang his drum and beat his chest a little while longer on this issue. This development pretty much changes nothing in the short term for users, or the platforms themselves.”
“We’ve taken action in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts”
TWITTER STATEMENT