Twitter has restricted a tweet from President Trump, explaining the tweet broke its rules related to the “glorification of violence.”
Twitter hasn’t removed the tweet, though, explaining “Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
While the tweet has since been hidden from Trump’s timeline, it is still accessible if you visit the tweet directly and click the “view” button. Users are also unable to reply to the tweet, but they can retweet it. By restricting the tweet, Twitter has curbed its overall reach.
According to Twitter, the platform’s algorithm won’t recommend the tweet either.
If you’ve yet to come across the President’s tweet, it reads: “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
In the tweet, President Trump is quoting former Miami police chief Walter Headley’s “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” remark. Headley’s remarks stem from an announcement relating to Miami’s policies on policing black neighbors in 1967.
At the time, the New York Times also reported Headley said, “We don’t mind being accused of police brutality. They haven’t seen anything yet.” Headley’s remarks ultimately prompted a race riot that resulted in three dead, 18 wounded and 222 arrested.
In response to President Trump’s remark, Twitter Comms added: “We've taken action in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts, but have kept the Tweet on Twitter because it is important that the public still be able to see the Tweet given its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance.”
This isn’t the first time the President’s Twitter account has made headlines this week. Earlier in the week, Twitter marked two of Trump’s tweets as containing misinformation related to mail-in voting.
In response to Twitter’s action, Trump drafted an executive order taking aim at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The executive order was finalized and signed by President Trump on May 28.
