Twitter flags Trump’s tweet promoting acts of violence

In a decisive move, Twitter has flagged U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweet on the violence protests that erupted after the alleged murder of George Floyd.

Twitter Inc., said in the alert that the tweet promotes acts of violence.

Earlier today, President Trump tweeted that:

“….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!”

In a detailed rationale behind the flagging, Twitter which has come in confrontation with President Trump said in the alert that:

“Twitter generally actions Tweets that violate our rules. However, we recognize 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.

At present, we limit exceptions to one critical type of public-interest content—Tweets from elected and government officials—given the significant public interest in knowing and being able to discuss their actions and statements.

“As a result, in rare instances, we may choose to leave up a Tweet from an elected or government official that would otherwise be taken down. Instead we will place it behind a notice providing context about the rule violation that allows people to click through to see the Tweet. Placing a Tweet behind this notice also limits the ability to engage with the Tweet through likes, Retweets, or sharing on Twitter, and makes sure the Tweet isn’t algorithmically recommended by Twitter. These actions are meant to limit the Tweet’s reach while maintaining the public’s ability to view and discuss it.”

Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order that seeks to regulate social media companies from being protected as having any liability about the content on their platform.

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