Twitter places a “public interest” notice in Trump’s tweet that threatens “force.”
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Twitter has released a “public interest” notice in President Trump’s tweet that threatens “serious force” against protesters outside the White House.
The platform uses the “public interest” notice when “it may be in the public interest to allow people to view Tweets that would otherwise be removed,” says Twitter. “We consider content to be in the public interest if it contributes directly to the understanding or discussion of a matter of public interest.”
Those who encounter the President’s tweet will initially see it obscured by a warning, but can click to view the original tweet.
“Commitments to the Tweet will be limited,” the Twitter security account tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “People will be able to retweet with comments, but not like, reply or retweet.”
The Metropolitan Police Department told ABC News that pepper spray was deployed last night in Lafayette Park, outside the White House, in response to a “large group trying to deface and destroy property.” The president praised law enforcement today for his response and said he wanted severe prison terms for anyone arrested.
It is at least the second time that Twitter has added such a tag to the president’s account, since it did so in late May in response to Trump’s controversial tweet “when the looting begins, the shooting begins.” Both tweets that have earned the label seem to glorify or urge violence.
Tuesday’s move was part of the platform’s growing but uneven response to the president’s inflammatory source of Twitter.
In late May, Twitter added fact checks to two of Trump’s tweets about voting by mail, the first time he did. The move quickly sparked an executive order from the White House targeting social media companies, though experts mocked the order as largely toothless.
Last week, the social media platform tagged a video that it tweeted as “manipulated media.”
However, the responses also serve to highlight when Twitter takes no action, as it has not done so against Trump’s unsubstantiated claim Monday that foreign countries would print ballots by mail.
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