Washington: A defiant Twitter Friday flagged a fresh tweet from Donald Trump for violating its rules about ‘glorifying violence’. This move came hours after the US president signed an executive order. It is aimed at stripping social media giants like Twitter and Facebook of legal immunity for content posted by third-party users.
The move came after Trump tweeted that ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’ in reference to the ongoing unrest in Minneapolis. The unrest started following the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed African American man who pleaded for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck.
Twitter had earlier added fact-check links to two of Trump’s tweets, enraging Trump.
“These thugs are dishonouring 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!” Trump tweeted.
Twitter flagged the tweet, which is now only visible if one clicks on Twitter’s flag.
“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 social media company said.
Floyd was seen pinned down in a video by a white police officer and later died. He could be heard screaming, ‘I can’t breathe’, on the video of the incident.
The video of Floyd’s death has now caused outrage in the city of Minneapolis and all over the country. Residents of the city have been protesting his death since Tuesday.
According to Twitter, it generally takes action on tweets that violate its rules. “However, we recognise that sometimes it may be in the public interest to allow people to view Tweets that would otherwise be taken down. We consider content to be in the public interest if it directly contributes to understanding or discussion of a matter of public concern,” the company said.
Trump has more than 80 million followers on Twitter. He signed an executive order Thursday aimed at stripping social media giants of legal immunity.
Agencies