Twitter hides Trump tweet for violating rules about glorifying violence

Donald Trump's war with Twitter looks likely to heat up after the social media site hid one of the president's tweets for "glorifying violence".

Tweeting about people in people in Minneapolis protesting about the killing of George Floyd by a police officer, Trump referred to the protestors as "thugs". He then went on to say "any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts" -- and it was this phrase which fell foul of Twitter rules.

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In a pair of tweets, Trump said: "I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right. These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!"

The troublesome sentence is thought to be a reference to Miami Police Chief Walter Headley who used the phrase to refer to violent responses to protests in 1967.

Twitter explained its actions in a series of tweets, saying that: "This Tweet violates our policies regarding the glorification of violence based on the historical context of the last line". As the company notes, however, the offending tweet has not been deleted, simply hidden from view until Twitter users click a warning link to make it visible.

With Trump having declared war on social media platforms, and having just signed an executive order seeking to wipe out Twitter's current protection against civil claims, things are now likely to escalate.

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