Twitter hides Donald Trump tweet for 'glorifying violence' amid large-scale riots

A warning label has been placed over the tweet

Twitter has hidden a tweet from US President Donald Trump on the basis that it breaks site rules around "glorifying violence".

A warning label has been placed over the tweet, which related to protests in the city of Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer knelt on his neck

Mr Trump wrote that he would "send in the National Guard" to end the protests, before adding in a second tweet that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts".

The second tweet has now been covered with a message from Twitter which says it violates the site's rules around glorifying violence.

The website did not delete it altogether, adding that it "may be in the public's interest for the tweet to remain accessible".

Users are now required to click on the message in order to view it.

It comes after the social media site added fact-checking labels to two of Mr Trump's tweets earlier this week after the president made unsubstantiated claims about postal voting in the US.

In response, the president accused social media sites of censorship and being biased against him and other conservatives.

On Thursday, he signed an executive order which aimed to remove some of the legal protections given to social media platforms in the US.

Twitter said the order was a political move which attacked free speech.

"This EO is a reactionary and politicised approach to a landmark law," the company said in a statement.

"Section230 protects American innovation and freedom of expression, and it's underpinned by democratic values.

"Attempts to unilaterally erode it threaten the future of online speech and internet freedoms."

It is currently unclear what impact the executive order will have on Twitter and wider social media use around the world.