Twitter CEO defends pulling down of Donald Trump's campaign video on George Floyd

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has defended his company’s action of taking down US President Donald Trump’s campaign tribute video on 46-year-old African American George Floyd's death in police custody that triggered country-wide demonstrations. While the US President had shared the news by targeting the microblogging website of “fighting hard” on behalf of the “radical left democrats” and called it “illegal”. After claiming it to be a “one-sided battle”, Dorsey clarified on June 6 that everything Trump said is ‘untrue’ and that it was “not illegal” for Twitter to disable the video because the company had received a copyright claim. 

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The 3:41-minute-long video by Trump’s campaign is still on YouTube and has garnered over 392k views and nearly 23k likes. But on Twitter, the clip posted on June 4 was removed and it said: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner”. It came after Dorsey’s company had flagged several tweets by the US President on mail-in voting and deemed them ‘inaccurate’. It had already triggered Trump’s disagreement with the platform. The US has been rocked with violent protests since Floyd died in police custody in Minnesota on May 25 and even though Trump has claimed to have sympathised with the peaceful demonstrators, he has threatened to use the military against the 'mayhem'. 

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The video shared by Donald Trump's campaign that sparked controversy with Twitter's policies was a tribute to the 46-year-old and showed glimpses of peaceful rallies in the beginning. Opposing the violence and promoting the same stance of US government, the clip was shared with the caption, "We are working toward a more just society, but that means building up, not tearing down. Joining hands, not hurling fists. Standing in solidarity, not surrendering to hostility."

'Healing not hatred'

Trump has previously noted that “justice has never been achieved by an angry mob” and ensured that justice will be delivered. The US President has not only called the entire incident a “grave tragedy” but said he understands the Americans are filled with “horror, anger and grief”. However, the US President ensured that even though he stands as an “ally” to justice, his administration will stand against the violence that has rocked the country for several days. Trump has called for, “healing not hatred, justice, not chaos”, to urge Americans to refrain from the “mayhem” and ensuring that he understands the ‘pain’ of peaceful protests. 

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