Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz received Twitter’s warning label after violating the platform’s rules by “glorifying violence” in his tweet. His statement on Twitter had compared protestors in the U.S. with terrorists, calling for them to be hunted down in the same way.
A community restriction label was used to hide Gaetz’s tweet from the platform, restricting it from being liked or retweeted. Users must click a “view” button to see the tweet as the platform is making sure its reach is minimized. A public interest notice has been placed on the tweet after it suggested that anti-fascist activists should be hunted down by the Government like terrorists. Rep. Gaetz made the following statement on his account:
Shortly after his tweet was hidden by Twitter, Gaetz reposted the following tweet from President Donald Trump that called for a new law that revokes some legal immunities for tech companies in the U.S.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) June 1, 2020
Twitter’s policies about the violation of guidelines:
Twitter states in its policy:
“We want to make it clear today that the accounts of world leaders are not above our policies entirely. We will err on the side of leaving the content up if there is a clear public interest in doing so.”
Rep. Gaetz’ violation came shortly after President Trump’s tweet was restricted from the community for violation of the same guidelines. The platform was involved in a face-off with the President after he tweeted that “looting during the protest would lead to shooting”.
With civil unrest continuing in cities around the U.S., protestors are standing up for the “Black Lives Matter” movement after 46-year-old bouncer George Floyd was killed on May 25 in police custody in Minnesota. The officer was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The protests started on May 27 in Minneapolis and instantly spread across several cities in the U.S.
The movement initially started in 2013 and has resurged after recent incidents with the mission to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.”
Many activists are praising Twitter for taking responsibility for tweets that appear on its platform, while others criticized it for being biased against conservative public figures like President Trump. Either way, the company minimized the reach for both tweets but fell short of taking down the tweet altogether.
On the other hand, President Trump has released an executive order in the District Court of Columbia for “preventing online censorship”. A non-profit tech organization sued the president after his executive order was released. The President is aggravated over Twitter’s warnings and went as far as threatening to shut down social media platforms in the country.
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