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Twitter hides Trump tweet on Minneapolis unrest for ‘glorifying violence’

Twitter attached a disclaimer to a tweet by President Donald Trump on the unrest in Minneapolis on Friday, saying it broke its rules on "glorifying violence", hours after the US president signed an executive order targeting the social media giant’s legal protections.

"...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!" Trump's tweet read.

Trump's message can now be read only after clicking on a notice which says: "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."
 

 

In a thread, Twitter said it had taken the action "in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts". People will still "be able to retweet with comment, but will not be able to like, reply or retweet it."

Twitter's action came just hours after Trump said he would introduce legislation that may scrap or weaken a law that has protected internet companies, including Twitter and Facebook, in an extraordinary attempt to regulate social media platforms where he has been criticised.

The proposed legislation is part of an executive order Trump signed on Thursday afternoon. Trump had attacked Twitter for tagging his tweets about unsubstantiated claims of fraud about mail-in voting with a warning prompting readers to fact-check the posts.

Trump wants to "remove or change" a provision of a law known as Section 230 that shields social media companies from liability for content posted by their users.

Trump said US Attorney General William Barr will begin drafting legislation "immediately" to regulate social media companies.

Washington DC correspondent Kethevane Gorjestani on Trump vs Twitter

On Wednesday, Reuters reported the White House's plan to modify Section 230 based on a copy of a draft executive order that experts said was unlikely to survive legal scrutiny. The final version of the order released on Thursday had no major changes except the proposal for a federal legislation.

"What I think we can say is we're going to regulate it," Trump said before the signing of the order.

"I've been called by Democrats that want to do this, so I think you could possibly have a bipartisan situation," said Republican Trump, who is running for re-election in November.

Twitter called the order "a reactionary and politicized approach to a landmark law" and said attempts to weaken Section 230 would "threaten the future of online speech."

Google spokeswoman said the order would harm "America's economy," while a Facebook spokesman said it would "encourage platforms to censor anything that might offend anyone."

Trump trying to 'frighten, coerce, scare, cajole'

The order, as written, attempts to circumvent Congress and the courts in directing changes to long-established interpretations of Section 230. It represents his latest attempt to use the tools of the presidency to force private companies to change policies that he believes are not favourable to him.

Source: France 24

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