Twitter was flooded with tweets after news broke that US President Donald Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Recent hashtags that trended included #TrumpHasCovid and the more recent #CovidCaughtTrump. While some wished him a speedy recovery, not everyone had nice words.
However, in an interview with Vice's Motherboard, Twitter has said it can suspend users who openly wish harm to the president during his on-going battle with Covid-19. The social media site referenced a policy that was put in place in April about taking action against users for their comments about Mr Trump.
Twitter’s policies allow for users engaging in “abusive behaviour” to be suspended, including when posting “content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual”.
“Hoping that someone dies as a result of a serious disease” is listed as a specific example within the guidelines’ section outlining explanations of abusive behaviour.
However, even though this policy is put in place, it’s still unclear how Twitter would be able to monitor every single tweet.
“We’re prioritising the removal of content when it has a clear call to action that could potentially cause real-world harm,” a Twitter representative said.
tweets that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against *anyone* are not allowed and will need to be removed. this does not automatically mean suspension. https://t.co/lQ8wWGL2y0 https://t.co/P2vGfUeUQf
— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) October 2, 2020
The company added that its rule doesn't necessarily mean a user would face an automatic suspension, but rather that their tweets would be deleted and users could potentially face a shadow ban where accounts will be in read-only mode instead.
Mr Trump is being treated at Walter Reed Medical Centre. He took the military helicopter Marine One to the hospital on Friday, where he is expected to stay for a few days, according to a White House spokesperson.
