President Trump’s positive Coronavirus diagnosis has prompted twitter users to wish for his death on the social media platform. Ingrid Cox reports.
In response, Twitter has issued a statement saying that tweets explicitly wishing for Trump’s death violate their abusive behavior policy and could result in a temporary suspension.
“Content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm, or fatal disease against an individual is against our rules,” Twitter said in a statement. Twitter has also told Motherboard that the policy has been in place since April.
The social media company told Motherboard that tweets openly hoping for Trump’s death “will have to be removed” and any accounts involved will result in being put into a “read-only” mode.
Twitter also added that they “won’t take enforcement action on every Tweet. We’re prioritizing the removal of content when it has a clear call to action that could potentially cause real-world harm,” when asked by Motherboard how tightly they will enforce the policy.
However, the statement, which was published on Friday, has prompted a backlash within the online community with many users describing the announcement as hypocritical.
The statement has angered many Twitter users, including some high-profile politicians who argued the existence of the policy when it came to protecting those in marginalized communities.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response: “So… you mean to tell us you could’ve done this the whole time?” She criticized the company for the statement as she added that she often gets flooded with online death threats for her tweets and views.