OAKLAND, California – Twitter added a tag to another post by President Trump on Tuesday, the fifth time he said it violated his policies and further increased the company’s battle with the president over his often incendiary tweets.
In a morning tweet, Trump threatened “serious force” against protesters who tried to establish an autonomous zone in Washington, DC, as they have in Seattle. Twitter hid its message behind a warning label that said the president violated company policies that prohibit abusive behavior.
After years of taking a non-intervention approach, Twitter began moderating Trump posts more aggressively last month. He added fact-checking messages to some of his tweets about mail ballots and added a warning tag to a tweet suggesting that protesters would be shot. Last week, the company put an explanatory tag on a Mr. Trump tweet that included a manipulated video about a “racist baby.”
In response, Trump accused Twitter of working to stifle conservative voices and damage his reelection campaign. Last month, he signed an executive order aimed at reversing legal protections for Twitter and other Internet companies. A lawsuit has been filed to block the order.
Despite the president’s rejection, Twitter has continued its efforts to moderate its tweets, distinguishing it from social media companies that have avoided taking action on the president’s posts. While Trump often posts identical content to his Twitter and Facebook accounts, Facebook has left most of them intact. Facebook removed the “racist baby” video after receiving a complaint from the copyright holder.
Twitter said Trump’s tweet about the autonomous zone included “the presence of a threat of harm against an identifiable group.” Such a tweet would be removed if a regular user posted it, but Twitter offers an exception to this policy for Trump and other government officials, allowing their messages to remain online behind a warning tag.
“This Tweet will remain on the service given its relevance to the ongoing public conversation,” said Twitter.
