Twitter is facing a growing backlash in the wake of Donald Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis as users accuse it of double standards in the way it polices those who wish death on others.
On Friday Twitter confirmed that users who wish death upon the president were violating its terms of use.
Its abusive behaviour policy prohibits users from “wishing or hoping serious harm on a person or group of people”.
“Tweets that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against *anyone* are not allowed and will need to be removed,” the company said in a tweet.
Earlier, a Twitter spokesman told the Guardian that the policy had been in place since April and applied to all users, not just Trump.
“Forgive me for being a bit of a snowflake, but surely wishing serious harm, fatal disease or death on someone/anyone should automatically mean suspension,” he said.
A spokesperson told Motherboard that Twitter was suspending some users but would not act on every tweet. »
