Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told Rep. Ilhan Omar the social media giant would not remove a tweet from President Trump that sparked death threats against the Minnesota Democrat.
Dorsey called Omar on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. During the conversation, Omar asked Dorsey why Twitter did not remove Trump’s tweet that juxtaposed Omar’s comments about 9/11 with images of the twin towers and Pentagon burning during the terror attacks.
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While speaking at a Council on American-Islamic Relations event in March, Omar said the organization was “founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.”
The clip Trump shared on Twitter did not include the full context of her remarks. It is still visible on the site.
Dorsey told Omar the video was not removed, because it did not violate the company’s rules. He also said the tweet and video had been widely shared off of the platform.
He did acknowledge the company needed to be better at removing hate and harassment from the social media site.
“During their conversation, [Dorsey] emphasized that death threats, incitement to violence, and hateful conduct are not allowed on Twitter,” Twitter said in a statement. “We’ve significantly invested in technology to proactively surface this type of content and will continue to focus on reducing the burden on the individual being targeted. Our team has also consistently been in touch with Rep. Omar’s office.”
Dorsey also met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday. Trump reportedly focused in the meeting on concerns about his follower count.
