Published 15:18 IST, May 29th 2020
Twitter puts notice on Donald Trump's 'shooting starts' tweet for 'glorifying violence'
Hours after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting social media companies, Twitter placed a public interest notice on one of his tweets.
Hours after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting social media companies, Twitter placed a public interest notice on one of his tweets for “glorifying violence”. Trump had tweeted on the ongoing protests in Minneapolis related to the death of a black man, George Floyd, who died after a white police officer pressing his knee against his neck.
As the angry protests flared across the US, some of the protesters torched a Minneapolis police station on May 29 which forced the department to abandon the building. As the protests grew violent, Trump lambasted the local administration saying “total lack of leadership” in Minneapolis. The US President said that he has talked to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and military will take control in case of any difficulty, threatening that “shooting” will start if anyone tries to loot public property.
Limitations of tweet
Twitter immediately flagged the tweet for violating the rules of the micro-blogging platform about glorifying violence and said that it has taken action in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts. However, it decided not to remove the tweet saying it is important that the public still be able to see the Tweet given its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance.
On May 27, Twitter fact-checked Trump's tweets regarding mail-in ballots which the US President has opposing tooth and nail for a long time saying it will be used to rig the elections. The US President has accused Twitter, which has already banned political ads, of meddling in the presidential polls and said that the micro-blogging site is doing “everything” in power to censor the elections in advance.
Updated 15:18 IST, May 29th 2020