Twitter is at it again. The social media site censored President Donald Trump’s response to raging protests just outside the White House. Trump warned the attempt to turn historic St. John’s Episcopal Church into a “Black House Autonomous Zone” would be “met with serious force.”
Last night, protesters attempted to pull down a historic statue of President Andrew Jackson. They also tried to set up an autonomous zone in the shadow of the White House, spray painting “BHAZ” on the historic church. One protester announced to those gathered that the Episcopal Church “was one of the four largest slaveholders in American history,” and demanded that it therefore “pay cash to black people,” according to the Washington Examiner.
In response, Trump indicated that he will enforce the law, tweeting: “There will never be an ‘Autonomous Zone’ in Washington, D.C., as long as I’m your President. If they try they will be met with serious force!”
That was too much for the leftists at Twitter. The site applied its “public interest notice” to the tweet, saying that it violated its “policy against abusive behavior, specifically, the presence of a threat of harm against an identifiable group.”
With this filter, users will still be able to see the tweet, but “[e]ngagements with the Tweet will be limited. People will be able to [r]etweet with [c]omment, but not [l]ike, [r]eply, or [r]etweet it.
Brent Bozell, founder and president of The Media Research Center, responded in a tweet: “Twitter believes protecting the public is ‘abusive behavior’?? What the hell is wrong with them? Twitter must be held accountable.”
Twitter also applied the notice to Trump’s tweet in late May regarding the George Floyd protests, saying that it “glorif[ied] violence.” That tweet in part stated that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
When reached for comment, a Twitter spokesperson said: “We have placed a public interest notice on this Tweet. The Tweet violates our policy against abusive behavior, specifically, that there is a threat of harm against an identifiable group.”
Twitter established the public interest notice a year ago. While acknowledging that a tweet may violate its rules, use of the notice leaves the tweet available due to its “relevance to ongoing public conversation.” At the time that it was created, Twitter stated that this notice would apply “to all verified political candidates and government officials with more than 100,000 followers”
