TheCable

Twitter has flagged a tweet from United States President Donald Trump which it said violated its rules about “glorifying violence”.

It hid the tweet from public view, saying it “may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible”.

It also said in addition to the tweet’s connection to violence, it fears it “could inspire similar actions”.

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. https://t.co/sl4wupRfNH

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— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) May 29, 2020

Trump was commenting on the protests against the death of George Floyd, a black man, who was killed while in police custody.

He described some of the protesters as thugs and threatened to send the military to quell the crisis.

“When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he wrote.

The quote, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” is said to have originated from a white Miami police chief named Walter Headley who targeted black people in 1967 ahead of the Republican convention.

This is the second time Twitter is flagging a tweet from the US president for violating the rules of the social media platform.

The first had claims which some media outlets have fact-checked and found to be false.

Amid the ensuing face-off, the US President signed an executive order that would police social media platforms and regulate their activities.

Addressing journalists at the oval office, Trump said his administration would check powers of social media companies to censor opinions and views of Americans.

He added that his action seeks to “defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history”.

“We are here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers,” he said.

“A small handful of social media monopolies controls a vast portion of all public and private communications in the United States.

“They have had unchecked power to censor, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter, virtually any form of communication between private citizens and large public audiences.”