Twitter Flags Tweet by Rep. Gaetz for ‘Glorifying Violence’

Twitter Flags Tweet by Rep. Gaetz for ‘Glorifying Violence’
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, speaks to reporters outside of the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 30, 2019. Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Zachary Stieber
Updated:

Twitter continued to censor top U.S. officials this week as it flagged a post by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), claiming the missive was “glorifying violence.”

“Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?” Gaetz wrote in the tweet.

Twitter shielded users from the post, allowing them to click “view” to read it but warning that the post “violated rules about glorifying violence.”

“However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible,” the social media company stated.

Gaetz, a second-term congressman, said in response: “Their warning is my badge of honor.”

“Antifa is a terrorist organization, encouraging riots that hurt Americans. Our government should hunt them down. Twitter should stop enabling them. I’ll keep saying it,” he said on Twitter.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was among those calling on Twitter to take Gaetz’s tweet down entirely instead of keeping it up and hiding it. Survivors of mass shootings, he said, were contacting him.

“They are scared to death this will inspire someone to start shooting into a crowd tonight. They are right,” he said.

A Dollar Tree store is broken into and looted near the Minneapolis Police 5th Precinct during the fourth night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 29, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
A Dollar Tree store is broken into and looted near the Minneapolis Police 5th Precinct during the fourth night of protests and violence following the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 29, 2020. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times
Demonstrators vandalize a car near the White House on May 31, 2020. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)
Demonstrators vandalize a car near the White House on May 31, 2020. Evan Vucci/AP Photo

Gaetz called the statement “woke virtue signaling,” and said: “Governments go after terrorists. Individuals don’t. We–the government–should continue to do so. And Antifa is rightly on the list! Speak against riots hurting Americans.”

Gaetz and a host of other officials, including President Donald Trump, have said they’re targeting the special status conveyed upon Twitter and other social media platforms in the wake of proven bias and censorship from the companies.

Twitter launched itself into the political fray last week by hiding one of Trump’s tweets, claiming the missive was “glorifying violence.”

“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to 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!” Trump wrote in the post in question.

When the White House re-posted what the president wrote, Twitter also hid that tweet.

The action came after Twitter placed a so-called fact check on one of Trump’s posts. The company had to alter the fact check because it contained factually incorrect information.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said Twitter “will continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. And we will admit to and own any mistakes we make.”

Trump signed an executive order aimed at preventing online censorship, triggering federal reviews of spending on the platforms, federal investigations into forms of political censorship, and other measures.
Joshua Philipp contributed to this report.
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated how long Rep. Gaetz has been in office. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
Zachary Stieber
Zachary Stieber
Senior Reporter
Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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