Twitter puts ‘public interest notice’ on Trump tweet threatening protesters

Trump’s tweet remains on his account but due to the warning notice, netizens will have to click first the view button to access it but they are not allowed to like, reply, and retweet it directly. (File photo: The White House/Facebook)

Twitter has taken action again against another of US President Donald Trump’s tweet, placing a “public interest notice” on it for supposedly violating the company’s policies against “abusive behavior.”

Twitter was referring to the tweet where Trump said, “There will never be an ‘Autonomous Zone’ in Washington, D.C., as long as I’m your President. If they try they will be met with serious force!”

He tweeted this after protesters reportedly failed to pull down a statue of former President Andrew Jackson in a park near the White House. It was also reported that they spray-painted “BHAZ,” which stands for “Black House Autonomous Zone,” on the columns of St. John’s Church outside the White House. The BHAZ is an apparent reference to an area in Seattle that is said to be taken over by protesters known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) or Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.

Trump’s tweet remains on his account but due to the warning notice, netizens will have to click first the view button to access it but they are not allowed to like, reply, and retweet it directly.

“We’ve placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our policy against abusive behavior, specifically, the presence of a threat of harm against an identifiable group,” Twitter explained.

Responding to Twitter’s move, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, “Twitter labeled it ‘abusive behavior’ for the President of the United States to say that he will enforce the law. Twitter says it is ‘abusive’ to prevent rioters from forcibly seizing territory to set up a lawless zone in our capital.”

“We must have LAW AND ORDER,” she added.

The same message was posted by Trump on his Facebook account, but the company left the post on its platform as it is. Trump’s Facebook post has garnered 154,000 reactions, 14,000 comments, and 6,500 shares, as of publishing.

This was not the first time Twitter took action against Trump’s tweets.

In May, Twitter labeled two tweets of Trump about mail-in ballots as “potentially misleading.” Trump claimed that mail-in ballots “will be anything less than substantially fraudulent” and that it could lead to a “rigged election.”

Twitter attached a link below the tweets that says “Get the facts about mail-in ballots,” directing Twitter users to a collection of tweets and news articles that debunk Trump’s remarks.

Twitter placed a “public interest notice” on another tweet of the President a few days later, where he said, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” This tweet, Twitter stressed, violated their policies about “glorification of violence.”