Twitter has put a notice on a tweet from President Trump, calling it “abusive behavior.” The platform noted that the tweet violated their terms of service.
The tweet from the president read, “There will never be an ‘Autonomous Zone’ in Washington, D.C., as long as I’m your President. If they try they will be met with serious force!”
“We’ve placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our policy against abusive behavior, specifically, the presence of a threat of harm against an identifiable group,” Twitter posted. They added, “Per our policies, this Tweet will remain on the service given its relevance to ongoing public conversation.”
We’ve placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our policy against abusive behavior, specifically, the presence of a threat of harm against an identifiable group.https://t.co/AcmW6O6d4t
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) June 23, 2020
Users will not be able to like or comment on the tweet, neither will they be able to retweet the post without comment.
Other tweets from the president have been labeled with notices to users in recent days. Late last month, after riots broke out in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody, Trump tweeted, “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!”
Twitter put a “public interest notice” on the tweet, writing, “This Tweet 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.”
We have placed a public interest notice on this Tweet from @realdonaldtrump. https://t.co/6RHX56G2zt
— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) May 29, 2020
The president responded, “It’s very simple, nobody should have any problem with this other than the haters, and those looking to cause trouble on social media.”
The day before the incident, Trump signed an executive order that took aim at the Communications Decency Act, which allows websites broad authority to moderate their own content. The Trump administration argues that social media companies haven’t been operating in “good faith.”
