After Twitter Bans Posts Wishing For Trump’s Death, The Squad Asks Where Was That Policy For Us?
by Derek Major

October 5, 2020

After Twitter Bans Posts Wishing For Trump’s Death, The Squad Asks Where Was That Policy For Us?

The four progressive Democratic congresswomen known as “The Squad” expressed shock when Twitter announced its policy against wishing harm or death to someone after President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis.

On Friday, @TwitterComms, a verified account run by Twitter’s spokespeople, tweeted that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm, or fatal disease against *anyone* are not allowed and will need to be removed.”

Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts were quick to question the social media giant after all four of them have received death threats and death wishes on the app unimpeded in the past.

Ocasio-Cortez was the first to respond, tweeting “So…you mean to tell us you could’ve done this the whole time?”

Not long after Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet, Talib retweeted it saying “the death threats towards us should have been taking more seriously by @TwitterComms.”

It’s well documented that all four members of The Squad have received death threats in the past. According to CNN, a Twitter search of each of the women’s names followed by “hanged for treason,” results in tweets from users calling for the deaths of the congresswomen.

Last year, Twitter permanently banned the campaign account of Republican Danielle Stella, who ran and lost to Omar.
Twitter has not yet responded to The Squad but did tell CNN the site does not tolerate death threats or wishes of death on people.
“At Twitter, it is our top priority to improve the health of the public conversation, and that includes ensuring the safety of people who use our service. Abuse and harassment have no place on Twitter,” a Twitter spokesperson told CNN. “Our policies — which apply to everyone, everywhere — are clear: We do not tolerate content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual or group of people. If we identify accounts that violate these rules, we will take enforcement action.”

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