As protests against police brutality continue, Twitter sanctions Trump tweet ‘glorifying violence’
Plumes of smoke rise into the sky in the aftermath of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 29, 2020.
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Demonstrators outraged over police brutality in the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, took to the streets in Minneapolis for the third straight night, as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called in the National Guard after fires and vandalism erupted during protests.
US President Donald Trump responded to the situation on Twitter, writing he would send the military to intervene and noting “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” echoing a 1967 statement made by former Miami police chief Walter Headly over violent reprisals to protests of stop-and-frisk tactics. Two hours later, Twitter hid the tweet for violating the platform’s standards on “glorifying violence,” though it is possible to view, as it is “in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.” The president’s message posted to Facebook was not removed, despite violating that platform’s community standards.
This comes days after Twitter marked Trump tweets about mail-in voting as potentially misleading. The fact-check label prompted the president to issue an executive order targeting social media companies. The legality of the move was swiftly questioned, and its potential infringement on free speech echoes the moves of authoritarian leaders elsewhere.
And: Hongkongers continue protests against Beijing’s efforts to erode the territory’s autonomy, as China threatens countermeasures against the UK.
Related: Tear gas has been banned in warfare. Why do police still use it?
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A border dispute between China and India is ratcheting up, as the pandemic reveals conflicting ambitions between the two nuclear powers. South Korea is again shuttering schools as cases of the novel coronavirus continue to rise. In Moscow, officials revised their COVID-19 death toll for the month of April, more than doubling the reported number. And secret documents obtained by NBC suggest Russian trolls are seeking to stoke racial unrest in the US.
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