Official Twitter 'Moment' Describes Violent Riots, Looting as 'Heated Protests'

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An official Twitter “moment” described the violent riots and looting that broke out in Minneapolis and other areas of the country with the muted term “heated protests,” in an entry created by Twitter employees that appeared at the top of users’ feeds.

The headline reads “Heated protests continue across the US as thousands demand justice for George Floyd.”

Clicking through to the Moment reveals that the “heated protests” in fact consist of looting and rioting, with the description reading “Protests have erupted across the country over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who suffocated when he was pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer. Minnesota declared a state of emergency amid looting and rioting in Minneapolis, while more protests mount in New York, Denver and other cities.”

The snippet, known as a “Twitter Moment” is currently being delivered to the top of many users’ Twitter feeds in the “what’s happening” tab. It also currently appears at the top of the “explore” tab, giving it a great deal of visibility to Twitter’s users.

This comes on the same day that Twitter censored one of the President’s tweets, in which Trump warned that continued rioting and looting would be met with military force. Twitter said that tweet “glorified violence” — yet it has taken no action against worse tweets from other world leaders, such as the Supreme Leader of Iran calling for terrorist violence against Israel.