PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Social media giant Twitter took action against one of President Trump’s latest tweets saying it glorifies violence.
The President posted the tweet early Friday morning, citing the ongoing unrest in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd calling some of the demonstrators “thugs” and tweeting: “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the lotting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!"
Twitter did not remove the tweet, saying it had determined it might be in the public interest to have it remain accessible. But the tweet was hidden so that a user looking at Trump's timeline would have to click on the warning to see the original tweet. Hiding it also effectively demotes the tweet by limiting how users can retweet it and ensuring that Twitter algorithms don't recommend it.
Twitter stated: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible."
A tweet using the same language as Trump's was later posted on the official White House Twitter account, and Twitter eventually put a warning on that too.
'The President did not glorify violence. He clearly condemned it," the White House responded.
It has been a contentious week between the President and the San Francisco based social media company. It is the second time in days that Twitter has taken action against Trump's tweets.
We have placed a public interest notice on this Tweet from @realdonaldtrump. https://t.co/6RHX56G2zt
— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) May 29, 2020
Trump has been railing against the company since earlier this week, when it, for the first time, applied fact checks to two of his posts.Those were about mail-in ballots. Those fact-check flags may have prompted the president to sign an executive order Thursday.
"My executive order calls for new regulations under section 230 of the communications decency act. They have a shield, they are not going to have that shield," Trump said from the Oval Office.
Trump has rallied multiple times for the revocation of Section 230, part of a 1996 law overhauling telecommunications. That section generally protects social media platforms from liability for material users post on their platforms. Trump on Thursday signed an executive order challenging those protections.
While he signed that executive order, he spoke out about Floyd’s death.
“I’ve asked the attorney general and the FBI to take a very strong look and to see what went on because that was a very, very bad thing I saw. I saw it last night and I didn't like it," Trump said.
And the president stopped short when asked by a reporter if those officers should be prosecuted. He said he wasn’t ready to comment just yet.