President Trump called on Congress on Friday to revoke liability protection for social media companies, hours after Twitter added a warning to one of his tweets about rioting in Minneapolis, saying it violated the platform’s rules against glorifying violence.
“Twitter is doing nothing about all of the lies & propaganda being put out by China or the Radical Left Democrat Party,” the president tweeted. “They have targeted Republicans, Conservatives & the President of the United States. Section 230 should be revoked by Congress. Until then, it will be regulated!”
The escalation of Mr. Trump’s feud with Twitter came after the platform tagged one of the president’s overnight tweets for potentially inciting violence.
The president, responding to violent protests over the death of an unarmed black man in a confrontation with a white police officer in Minneapolis, had tweeted: “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.”
He added, “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to [Democratic] Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
Twitter’s warning on the president’s tweet prevents his more than 80 million followers from “liking” or replying to it.
Mr. Trump has called for swift justice for the police officers who were fired.
Twitter didn’t delete the president’s tweet about the riots, saying it had determined it might be in the public interest to have it remain accessible.
The president hit back at Twitter, “What about all of the lies and fraudulent statements made by [House Intelligence Committee Chairman] Adam Schiff, and so many others, on the Russian Witch Hunt Plus, Plus, Plus? What about China’s propaganda? WHO’s mistakes? No flags?”
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects social media platforms from lawsuits over content online.
The president signed an executive order on Thursday calling for greater regulation of Twitter, Facebook and others after Twitter flagged for fact-checking two of his tweets about the perils of voting by mail.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.