Elected officials are no longer allowed to tweet innocuous support for the United States Navy, if you believe Twitter.
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott met with Twitter officials on July 15 to discuss why his tweet about the U.S. Navy’s flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels, was covered up by Twitter. His original tweet, which retweeted a video, said, “I’ve always loved watching the Blue Angels. They inspire the precision and power that makes the U.S. military the mightiest in the history of the world.” Both this tweet, and the video, were covered as “sensitive” by Twitter.
Users had to click through the “sensitive” filter in order to see the tweet.
Abbott later tweeted, “Multiple reports say Twitter categorized my Blue Angels post as sensitive. Just another way Twitter is erecting challenges for conservatives and for American institutions.”
After the meeting, Abbott announced, “We are working on solutions to ensure posts are seen.”
However, the consequences might be severe. Abbott mentioned that “Greater regulation of Twitter is on the table.”
The Blue Angels and their flight demonstrations cannot possibly be violations of any sort of Twitter rule. One can only wonder if the tweet was censored because it was tweeted by a Republican elected official.
Twitter has announced that they will be “framing” certain tweets from President Trump that are allowed on the platform, even if they violate Twitter’s rules. Twitter plans to put those tweets in context as “offensive.”
