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.
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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.
I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020
....These THUGS are dishonoring 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020
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.
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. https://t.co/V3T521zjnj
— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) May 29, 2020
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.
15:18 IST, May 29th 2020