Twitter has added a warning to one of Trump’s tweets for the first time earlier today.
Earlier this week, Twitter added a fact-check to one of Trump’s tweets about mail-in ballots, in which he lied about how many people would be able to use them to vote in upcoming elections (he’s also voted by mail himself).
He then went on to tweet about how Twitter was censoring him, and has since signed an executive order that would give him and other state officials more authority over what people do on social media.
He also threatened to shut down social media altogether.
Trump has since gone on a Twitter rant about the protests in Minneapolis, which have erupted this week after the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of police officers. He threatened to send in the National Guard and called on the mayor Jacob Frey to do something.
He also used the phrase, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
After a couple of hours, Twitter put a label on the tweet and said that it glorified violence. However, the tweet was allowed to remain on the platform because it was in the public’s interest to be able to see it.
Twitter clarified why the company had done so in a thread on the tweet, noting that they had put a “public interest notice” on the tweet. This seems to be the first time that this has been done in the 14-year history of the platform.
We have placed a public interest notice on this Tweet from @realdonaldtrump. https://t.co/6RHX56G2zt— Twitter Comms (@Twitter Comms) 1590736660
On social media, some thought it was the first step in a necessary overhaul.
But many people thought it wasn’t far enough – pointing out that this isn’t the first time Trump has incited violence on the platform, and that he consistently lies and uses Twitter to encourage his followers to harass other people.
@TwitterComms @realDonaldTrump Good Job Twitter!— Alex Cole (@Alex Cole) 1590739794
@TwitterComms @jack @realDonaldTrump Suspend his account you cowards.— john hyland (@john hyland) 1590737008
@TwitterComms @jack @realDonaldTrump Holy fuck! Twitter is really doing this! Better late than never, I guess.— PUN (@PUN) 1590736923
@GreyKnight8008 @TwitterComms Twitter is supporting not supporting violence which is in the terms of service. It's… https://t.co/pVjfZilxQF— Becka (@Becka) 1590739553
Others thought that it was much too far, and that Trump was effectively being censored.
They seemed to think that Twitter had overstepped its boundaries, and invoked the First Amendment.
@TwitterComms @realDonaldTrump Just wait for a censorship resistant platform on top of a blockchain and your platfo… https://t.co/ZGfAcQ7jmm— eugenelee3 (@eugenelee3) 1590737094
The tweet in question was sent pretty late at night, so who knows how Trump will respond when he wakes up.
Given that he’s already signed an executive order around social media, there might not actually be that much more damage he can do.