Donald Trump has been involved in a raging battle against social media giant Twitter after the latter included a ‘fact-check’ on a tweet he had made regarding mail-in ballots. Following the incident, the US president signed an executive order withdrawing liability protections that Twitter enjoyed. The next move came from Twitter and it censored Donald Trump’s tweet for ‘glorifying violence’. And now, the POTUS has hit back at the blatant political partisanship exhibited by the social media platform.
This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, @Twitter has determined that it will allow terrorists, dictators, and foreign propagandists to abuse its platform. pic.twitter.com/5Qi0m66Vnh
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 29, 2020
The White House on Friday hit back at twitter for not taking any action against Ayatollah Khamenei for glorifying Jihad in Palestine but censored a tweet made by Donald Trump which, according to the US President, did not glorify violence. The White House said that the tweet by Khamenei “violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, @Twitter has determined that it will allow terrorists, dictators, and foreign propagandists to abuse its platform.”
In the ongoing feud, Mark Zuckerberg has taken a stand against Twitter as well and said that social media platforms could not pose as the ‘arbiters of truth’. The political censorship of conservative opinion on social media platforms has been a long standing issue that tech giants have had to grapple with. The censorship of US President Donald Trump himself on social media is the natural culmination of the gradual progression of events.
The conduct of Twitter itself has not been up to mark as their censorship always runs one way. During the recent spree of violence in the USA itself, while Twitter censored Donald Trump for warning rioters about the consequences of their actions, it has not taken any action against accounts with verified ticks who have encouraged people to “burn it down” on social media as rioters on the streets set shops and buildings on fire.
The official editorial opinion of Twitter is now live
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) May 29, 2020
Trump's tweet saying "when the looting starts the shooting starts" is glorifying violence
But calling for violence that supports the riots is not
Twitter is insane to think they can run editorial for 340M people pic.twitter.com/qxDx5l7Urq
It remains to be seen how the feud unfolds henceforth. Donald Trump is not known to take sleights lying down. However, it can be safely said we haven’t seen the end of it yet.
