Twitter sticks to guns: censors Trump for ‘glorifying violence’

Twitter concealed one of Donald Trump’s tweets on Friday for ‘glorifying violence’.

‘Twitter ceases to be a neutral public platform’: Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at curbing protections for social media giants. Picture: AP

Twitter concealed one of Donald Trump’s tweets on Friday for “glorifying violence”, ramping up a dispute with the US President who says social media companies censor conservative voices like his.

In a move bound to infuriate one of the platform’s most followed users, Twitter said it was placing a “public interest notice” on a Trump tweet about violent protests in Minneapolis over the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of the police.

In a late night tweet, Mr Trump wrote: “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!”

Hours later, the platform hid the tweet behind a message that said it “violates our policies regarding the glorification of violence based on the historical context of the last line, its connection to violence, and the risk it could inspire similar actions today”.

“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.”

Users could still click through and view the full unedited tweet.

Mr Trump, who has more than 80 million followers on Twitter, lashed out at the platform on Thursday, signing an executive order seeking to strip social media giants of legal immunity for content on their platforms.

The executive order calls on government regulators to evaluate if online platforms should be eligible for liability protection for content posted by their millions of users. If enforced, the action would up-end decades of precedent and treat internet platforms as “publishers” potentially liable for user-generated content. Mr Trump said at the White House on Thursday he acted because big tech firms “have had unchecked power to censor, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter any form of communication between private citizens or large public audiences”.

“We can’t let this continue to happen,” the President said.

The move comes a day after an angry tirade from Mr Trump against Twitter after the platform for the first time labelled two of his tweets, on the increasingly contentious topic of mail-in voting, with fact-check notices, calling them misleading.

“In those moments, Twitter ceases to be a neutral public platform and they become an editor with a viewpoint,” he said. “And I think we can say that about others also, whether you’re looking at Google, whether you’re looking at Facebook, perhaps others.”

Critics said, however, Mr Trump had no authority to regulate private internet operators or change the law known as section 230 which backers say has ­allowed online platforms like Facebook and Twitter to flourish.

The American Civil Liberties Union called the order “a blatant and unconstitutional threat to punish social media companies that displease the President”.

Eric Goldman, director of the High-Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, said the order was “more about political theatre than about changing the law”.

The White House seeks to sidestep the provisions giving internet firms immunity by treating them as publishers operating in part of a “public square”. “Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube wield immense, if not unprecedented, power to shape the interpretation of public events; to censor, delete, or disappear information; and to control what people see or do not see,” the executive order said.

AFP