Donald Trump tweet for 'glorifying violence'
Warning on ‘when looting starts, shooting starts’ post
risks further escalation of row between firm and president
Alex Hern
UK technology editor
@alexhern
Published
onFri 29 May 2020 09.39 BST
Twitter has hidden one of Donald Trump’s tweets behind
a warning that it “glorifies violence”, further escalating the social media
company’s row with the US president.
The US
president’s tweet, posted on Thursday night Washington time, warned people in
Minneapolis protesting against the killing of a black man, George Floyd, by a
white police officer that he would send the military to intervene if there was
“any difficulty”.
“When the
looting starts, the shooting starts,” Trump wrote, apparently quoting the
former Miami police chief Walter Headley, who in December 1967 promised violent
reprisals to protests over stop-and-frisk tactics.
Two hours
later, Twitter added a notice to the tweet: “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.”
The warning
was accompanied by a link to its policies about public interest exceptions.
For people
visiting Trump’s Twitter timeline, or seeing the tweet retweeted on their feed,
the warning obscures the content until they tap to view it.
Users who
try to reply to the tweet are instead presented with a second notice that
reads: “We try to prevent a tweet like this that otherwise breaks the Twitter
rules from reaching more people, so we have disabled most of the ways to engage
with it.” Existing replies no longer appear below it.
The tweet’s
spread will also be limited by Twitter’s algorithms, according to the company’s
policy documents.
The warning
suggests Twitter has no intention of backing down in its dispute with Trump,
which erupted on Wednesday when the company applied a fact-checking label to
the president’s tweets for the first time.
He had
tweeted an accusation that California was using mail-in ballots to ensure a
“rigged election” to which Twitter added a label reading: “get the facts about
mail-in ballots”, which had a link to a “Twitter-curated” set of fact checks.
In
response, the president signed an executive order that aims to remove Twitter’s
protections against civil claims in cases where it acts as an “editor” rather
than a publisher.
In a
Twitter thread, the company explained its latest decision: “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.”
Twitter
introduced its public interest exception in June 2019, after years of criticism
for failing to consistently apply its rules to prominent public figures,
particularly the president.
“There are
certain cases where it may be in the public’s interest to have access to
certain tweets,” the company said, “even if they would otherwise be in
violation of our rules.”
Twitter
said at the time it believed the response – hiding the tweet behind a warning
and reducing its algorithmic distribution – struck “the right balance between
enabling free expression, fostering accountability, and reducing the potential
harm caused by these tweets”.
The company
has taken action against Trump’s tweets before, for copyright infringement.
Twice the president used unlicensed music in campaign videos – in an advert
featuring the theme to the film Dark Knight Rises, and in a meme video set to
Nickelback’s song Photograph. In both cases, the posts were removed without
complaint from the president.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário