Twitter hides Trump tweet for 'glorifying violence'
The feud between Donald Trump and Twitter escalated Friday, when the social media company took the unprecedented step of hiding a tweet by the president of the United States.
Trump tweeted that the military was ready to step in to help quell violent protests in Minneapolis, and said looters would be shot.
Twitter masked that message with banner that said "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence," but added, "However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the tweet to remain accessible."
Users who clicked the banner could see the tweet, which read, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!"
A Twitter spokeswoman said CEO Jack Dorsey knew of the decision to tag Trump's tweet as a violation.
In its own thread, Twitter said it took the action "in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts".
People will still "be able to retweet with comment, but will not be able to like, reply or retweet it".
Twitter's action came after Trump said he would introduce legislation that may scrap or weaken a law that has protected internet companies, including Twitter and Facebook.
The proposed legislation is part of an executive order Trump signed on Thursday afternoon. Trump had attacked Twitter for tagging tweets of his this week about unsubstantiated claims of fraud in mail-in voting.
Twitter added a warning prompting readers to fact-check the posts.
Twitter's decision to intervene in Trump's messages is in contrast with Facebook, whose CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Fox News in an interview earlier this week: "I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online."
Trump and others in his Republican party have claimed social media sites censor conservative viewpoints.
On Friday morning, Trump tweeted, "Twitter is doing nothing about all of the lies & propaganda being put out by China or the Radical Left Democrat Party. They have targeted Republicans, Conservatives & the President of the United States. Section 230 should be revoked by Congress. Until then, it will be regulated!"
