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Twitter appears to have removed the president's last two tweets
- gotem 6y agoAccident? Twitter needs to fix their infrastructure if so.
- newguy1234 6y agoIntentional. Trump should have left twitter months ago and went to parler instead
- jsheard 6y agoTwitter initially gave those Tweets a special footnote and restrictions "This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence" But they must have realised that admitting the posts are likely to stoke violence while not removing them was a bad look
- minimaxir 6y agoFacebook removed those two corresponding posts first; Twitter got backlash for not doing so, and they then followed suit.
- jVinc 6y agoI didn't see the latest one, but the one before that was a video of Trump telling supports to go home, but then also continuing the allegations that the election was stolen. It initially appeared with a fact-checker disclaimer* that the allegations where wrong. I guess they weighted hims saying "go home" against the continued factually incorrect claims, which are now throwing fire on the flame, even if he's saying go home. * Disclaimer was: "This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can't be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence"
- input_sh 6y agoThe latest one was basically the same as that video, but in text. Something along the lines of "the election was stolen, but go home now."
- gizmo385 6y agoNo, it was Trump saying "These things happen" to a mob of people breaking into the Capitol building of the United States. Edit: Not sure why I'm getting downvoted for this. Here is a screenshot of the removed tweet: https://d.pr/i/Ex15UI/ABdSwruLJz https://d.pr/i/Ex15UI/ABdSwruLJz
- jjulius 6y agoNo, he's saying that people will storm capitol buildings when they think elections are stolen. Edit: If you're going to downvote me, I welcome an open conversation about why I might be wrong.
- voisin 6y agoOff topic, but I would welcome a feature on HN where people could at least (perhaps anonymously) provide feedback or a canned response or something when they downvote.
- jjulius 6y agoSame; I value constructive criticism and don't mind people telling me I might be in the wrong. It's not the fact that I'm getting downvoted that perturbs me, it's that I might not realize what's wrong about my statement if someone doesn't speak up.
- odessacubbage 6y agodownvote should not be an 'i disagree button' it is intended as a democratized moderation tool.
- deleted 6y ago
- gregd 6y agoHere is a link to a screenshot of what he tweeted after the video and which Twitter subsequently removed: https://d.pr/i/Ex15UI/ABdSwruLJz https://d.pr/i/Ex15UI/ABdSwruLJz
- input_sh 6y agoGreat! Now ban him, as you should've done years ago.
- aaronbrethorst 6y agoThey're threatening to, finally. https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1346970432017031178 https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1346970432017031178
- frereubu 6y agoThey've now locked his account for 12 hours: https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1346970431039934464 https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1346970431039934464
- Triv888 6y agoIf I was him I would abide by their rule and then promote my new channel that is hosted somewhere safer/distributed/etc.
- robtaylor 6y agoJack the big man 14 days before the term ends.
- ASalazarMX 6y agoTrump had a lot of clout years ago. They're scolding him now not out of moral superiority, but because he's on his way out.
- Miner49er 6y agoIt's scary that three tech companies can censor a president like this.
- pengaru 6y agoNo, it's scary that the president has chosen some private company's dumpster fire of a web site to address the nation.
- Miner49er 6y agoWell, yeah that's kind of my point. The best way for the president to directly reach people is through these tech companies. That's how powerful they've become. What's the alternative for direct communication?
- wmf 6y agoThe alternative is whitehouse.gov or maga.gov or whatever. Does Trump use Twitter/Facebook because they are powerful or are they powerful because Trump uses them?
- krapp 6y agoAs well as every press organization in the US. It's ridiculous that people are actually trying to argue that the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth has no effective way to communicate with the public outside of Twitter.
- jjulius 6y agoTV, emailing his supporters, texting them, Parler, etc.
- Miner49er 6y agoOnly Parler is similar to the direct communication of Twitter where anyone can choose to see it. And he is indeed using it to post the removed video.
- refurb 6y agoI for one welcome our new Silicon Valley speech overlords.
- suyash 6y agoTime to break up Twitter and kick the CEO out. It's no longer a place that allows 'free speech'.
- falcolas 6y agoWhile I agree it should provide free speech (that's another discussion though), it never has provided such a platform.
- the-smug-one 6y agoHackerNews is moderated, you better leave this platform quickly!
- mxcrossb 6y agoAmusingly enough, almost every top level comment in this thread is faded to white (which I think means downvotes?).
- snarf21 6y agoThis is no more a removal of free speech than a demand to print someone's opinion on the front page of NYT. Twitter is a private platform. Feel free to use any other platform.
- gregd 6y agoThe 1st Amendment acts as a constraint on Government. Private companies are under no obligation to protect your right to free speech.
- dragonwriter 6y ago> Private companies are under no obligation to protect your right to free speech. More to the point, your right to free speech isn’t a constraint on the private companies right to exercise theirs. And even more to the point, @realDonaldTrump is (and has been described as such by its owner in court cases) a official communication tool of the Office of the President; it trumping the preferences of private media firm by whose resources it is relayed would be a direct, government violation of the right of free speech/press.
- jcfrei 6y agoVP of Facebook about a similar decision on his video: https://twitter.com/guyro/status/1346950532372393985 https://twitter.com/guyro/status/1346950532372393985
- branon 6y agoCensorship for any reason is disappointing.
- frereubu 6y agoUnless you mean you're disappointed that the president has said something so egregious they've been forced to censor him, I really have no idea where you're coming from. He's inciting an armed mob to storm the seat of the US government. Where would you draw the line?
- odessacubbage 6y agoi believe at least one the tweets they deleted were calls for people to calm down and leave, that seems like the opposite of incitement. >Where would you draw the line? no line. representatives have chosen not to represent their constituents, at a certain point it needs to be clear that if you can't keep your promises, ignore the needs and concerns of the public while holding them in contempt, this is the only possible outcome. censorship cannot solve this problem, only effective governance can.
- frereubu 6y agoWhen you say no line, you believe there are no limts to free speech?
- odessacubbage 6y agoit wouldn't be free speech if there were. the first amendment was written by a group of seditious traitors who rebelled against the state. speech is not a tool for preserving the state, it exists to protect the people.
- frereubu 6y agoWe have a more fundamental disagreement than tweets in that case. If anyone should be allowed to post anything, what about images of child pornography?
- minimaxir 6y agoFrom Twitter: > As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy. > This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked. https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1346970430062485505 https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1346970430062485505
- mc32 6y agoSo I bet they remove similar tweets by pols around other civil disobedience demos, right? I think any neutral party will see a narrative that’s being set and an opposite narrative that’s being disallowed. I cannot predict what the Biden admin will do, but it behooves the Biden admin to not let these outlets determine what narratives are allowed and which ones aren’t. Biden is an old style liberal, if he ignores these orgs and let’s them set agendas, it’ll come to bite him (ala Red Guards vs PLA -I bet he’s old enough to recall that)
- flowerlad 6y agoFor the next 2 weeks it is important to remove Trump's ability to incite and mobilize his supporters. There won't be a peaceful transfer of power otherwise. One person has already died.
- adventured 6y agoShe didn't merely die, she was unarmed and murdered by Capitol Police. They shot her in the neck.
- netsharc 6y agoWas she lawfully there? She was climbing through a hole in a door where she and her fellow agressors just smashed a glass pane. Did she have a bomb in her backpack? (Probably not, but hey, others have been killed for less...)
- voisin 6y ago> She was climbing through a hole in a door Source for this? I have looked at the videos and read multiple articles and can’t find anything saying or showing what happened prior to her being shot, or even showing who shot her.
- netsharc 6y agoThis tweet links to another tweet, but the linked twitterer has now been suspended: https://twitter.com/Cleavon_MD/status/1346951966203629570 https://twitter.com/Cleavon_MD/status/1346951966203629570 This bot downloaded the video: https://twitter.com/this_vid/status/1346973985737732097 https://twitter.com/this_vid/status/1346973985737732097 (2nd video in the URL mentioned in that tweet). Edit: OK, what she was doing before she climbed through: https://twitter.com/SP_Longie/status/1346952013532184576 https://twitter.com/SP_Longie/status/1346952013532184576
- wasdfff 6y agoI saw the video before it was deleted. She went up into the broken window to cross through to the other side where the police were holding their position and was immediately shot. It was chaos in that hallway.
- meekmockmook 6y agoSilicon Valley and the media created the Donald Trump presidency. The one bright side of today's nightmare is that the case for antitrust against the Big Tech companies is as clear as day. These conglomerates purposely designed toxic algorithms that created violence and chaos in the name of endless growth. Millions of minds were poisoned with conspiracies, hate, and lies. Break Twitter, Facebook, and Google up. NEVER AGAIN!
- admiralspoo 6y agoIt's clear that the logical endgame to this is the left and right will have their own platforms. Bad move by Twitter.
- Uhhrrr 6y agoThis is a pretty special case.
- blendo 6y agoI concur. At best, he’s shouting fire in a crowded theatre. At worst, he’s fomenting violent revolution.
- input_sh 6y agoAs if that hasn't been tried like dozens of times since 2016.
- alkonaut 6y agoWell we do. The line is just drawn reeally far to the right between Twitter and Parler. Basically Twitter for people who believe in democratic institutions and Parler for others. Here Trump clearly posted a Parler message on Twitter.
- mlindner 6y agoThis is not going to end well... The left will use this as evidence that they can and should control speech because Trump was saying things that are very wrong. The right will use this as evidence that Twitter/etc are political speech organizations and definitely not common carriers and thus require either being broken up or laws put in place requiring they treat all content equally. This is a pandora's box.
- disown 6y agoIt's incredible that people here are celebrating tech companies censoring the president. You'd have to be extremely shortsighted or naive to think this is a good thing. Every day, many here are screaming zuckerburg is evil, twitter is horrible, break up tech companies. And yet the same people are celebrating these tech companies censoring a government official.
- flowerlad 6y agoIf a terrorist was using Twitter to activate his bot network wouldn't you expect Twitter to disable the account?
- disown 6y agoGood god, people like you are the real problem. I'd bet you cry and whine if you were banned. Also if you are right then we are fucked since 70+ million people voted for the "terrorist". But of course you don't really believe it. Just spewing hyper partisan bullshit. Also, in his censored tweets, he was asking his supporters to go home peacefully. So more like defusing the situation rather than igniting it. But regardless, you'd have to be an idiot to support a bunch of unelected tech elites censoring elected government officials. Whether it is democrat or republican or independent, sane people would say it's not for the tech elites to decide which politician gets to say what. For all the talk about "democracy", those purporting to support it sure love censorship and authoritarianism.
- tempjan6 6y ago> we are fucked since 70+ million people voted for the ... Are you only now realizing we're fucked? We have the most Corona virus death rates of any country in the world, our stature in the world has never been lower, China is making deals with EU [1] and Asia, leaving out the US, Russia is hacking us with impunity and offering bounties on our soldiers in Afghanistan, ... I could go on and and on. We were fucked 4 years ago when we elected a president whose solve qualification is that he is a white supremacist. It will take us many years to unfuck ourselves. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/business/china-eu-investment-deal.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/business/china-eu-investm...
- Triv888 6y agoAnyone archived those tweets? Or did they ever were public at all?