Twitter issued a warning to its users Friday, telling them that tweets hoping that President Donald Trump dies from Covid-19 were a violation of their Terms of Service, and would be required to be removed.

Prayers and well-wishes for Trump and First Lady Melania Trump poured in from around the world after they tested positive for the coronavirus, especially after Trump was admitted to Walter Reed Hospital for “precautionary reasons” — but the cesspool of social media also dredged up countless vile and ugly remarks.

Twitter’s Terms of Service, updated earlier this year, expressly forbid wishing any “death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease” upon any individual in their section governing abusive behavior.

Tweets that violate this rule must be removed and a user’s account will usually be frozen until they agree to delete the offensive posts. Repeated violations of the rule can subject an account to a temporary suspension or even a permanent ban.

Twitter reaffirmed their commitment to this policy in a tweet, noting that wishing or hoping for “death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against *anyone* [is] not allowed.”

tweets that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against *anyone* are not allowed and will need to be removed. this does not automatically mean suspension. https://t.co/lQ8wWGL2y0 https://t.co/P2vGfUeUQf

— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) October 2, 2020

Twitter also issued a statement published by Vice with similar language.

When Motherboard asked how tightly Twitter will enforce this policy with regard to Trump, it said that it “won’t take enforcement action on every Tweet. We’re prioritizing the removal of content when it has a clear call to action that could potentially cause real-world harm.” It is not clear whether Twitter believes that hoping for the death of the president can lead him to actually die, or where the line is.

Vice also noted that Facebook had similar restrictions on posts that wish for death or serious harm, but slightly more lenient for public figures like the president, essentially allowing such posts to remain as long as Trump was not tagged in the post or the threat was not severe or viewed as likely to incite real world harm. 

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/33ninH0