Monday, January 11, 2021

Twitter Hasn’t Suspended These Accounts Or Tweets That Openly Incite Violence


On Friday, Twitter joined a slew of other social media companies in permanently suspending Donald Trump’s accounts. Subsequently, many other conservative users found themselves deplatformed by the tech giant. The tech oligarchs’ argument is that Trump’s social media presence incites violence, as evidenced by the riot in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

Twitter argued that several of Trump’s tweets violated its Glorification of Violence policy, which states, “You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people. We also prohibit the glorification of violence.” 

Unsurprisingly, there are countless Twitter accounts that regularly call for harm or violence, in violation of this policy, yet have been allowed to persist. While the president’s posts and remarks have included some awful things, they have been in no way worse than much of what transpires on the platform.

Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, has an intact Twitter account that consistently glorifies acts of violence, yet the brutal dictator has not faced any censorship or suspension. After the heartbreaking beheading of a French teacher because he showed a political cartoon depicting Mohammad, and a mass stabbing in a church in Nice, Khamenei focused vitriol on those murdered, claiming the “rage” of Muslim extremists had demonstrated its “vitality.”

Khamenei also called for Israel to “perish” and has promised “revenge” on the United States. But Twitter is more offended by President Trump than a theocratic dictator who supports terror attacks and threatens other countries.

During this summer’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations, politicians, celebrities, and other users praised those taking to the streets in protest. Many also championed the associated riots, which cost livelihoods and at least 30 lives as cities burned.

Football player turned activist Colin Kaepernick was vocal in his support for the violent rioting that overtook many American cities. He has been both “glorifying” actual violence and encouraging it to continue. Rather than censor his account in any way, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey donated $3 million to Kaepernick’s organization.

Floating around social media was the Martin Luther King Jr. quote, “A riot is the language of the unheard,” ignoring the context and nuance of his words from a speech in which the civil rights leader refused to condemn rioting, but also did not encourage it, advocating instead for nonviolence.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris joined many public figures in tweeting support and the link for the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which collected bail for those arrested while rioting in Minneapolis this summer. Such activity actively helped elongate and encourage the violence, which took two lives and caused more than $500 million in property damage. Harris had publicly called for Trump to be removed from Twitter for encouraging rioters, despite being guilty of the same behavior herself.

There are a shocking amount of tweets that declare that all members of certain groups deserve to die, including but not limited to “republicans,” “white men,” and “cops.” The entire platform is filled with threats of murder, assault, and rape. How do these posts not directly contradict Twitter’s supposed ban on calls for or glorification of violence?

This internet tough guy deleted the tweet after publication here.

Twitter’s permanent suspension of President Trump’s account is clearly not about the rules, but an exercise of power over its political opponents. Wednesday’s riots were not the cause, but the excuse used for Big Tech to do what they’ve been wanting to do for years — keep conservatives from speaking on public platforms.


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