Twitter on Friday flagged a fresh tweet from President Donald Trump for violating its rules of "glorifying violence" on Friday. This is the second time in three days that Twitter has flagged a Trump's tweet and comes hours after the U.S. President signed an executive order aimed at stripping social media giants like Twitter and Facebook of legal immunity for the content posted by third-party users.
Trump's tweet apparently targets the protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd. Twitter felt this tweet to be promoting violence and hence took the action. This could further create problems for Twitter, which has already annoyed Trump by flagging two of his tweets earlier this week.
Twitter Does it Again
Tweeter's response to flag another fresh tweet from Trump came after the President tweeted "when the looting starts, the shooting starts". Trump's tweet was in reference to the ongoing unrest in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd a handcuffed African American man who pleaded for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck.
"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 in response to the flagging said on Friday morning.
Trump's tweet is now hidden behind a notice and claims that it breached Twitter's policies on "glorifying violence". The tweet, although, can still be viewed and retweeted with a comment. However, users cannot like or reply to it. According to Twitter, it generally takes action on tweets that violate its rules.
Was Trump Threatening?
A protest followed by random looting rocked Minneapolis on Thursday night George Floyd's violent on-camera death. Floyd was captured in a video being pinned down by a white police officer and later died. He could be heard screaming, "I can't breathe," in the video.
The incident caused outrage in the city of Minneapolis and all over the United States, with residents of the city protesting his death since Tuesday. Trump fanned the fire with two back-to-back tweets suggesting that he was about to dispatch troops to the Twin Cities and shoot looters and used the phrase, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
Trump's quote bears resemblance to former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who in December 1967 used the phrase, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." Twitter said that it took issue with the "historical context" of the phrase and flagged the tweet. The White House in response hit back at Twitter saying that it "has determined that it will allow terrorists, dictators, and foreign propagandists to abuse its platform." The tweet included a picture of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
