Trump Retweets ‘Snuff Film’: Isn’t That A Twitter Violation?
Donald Trump is all about sharing his thoughts with his fellow Americans, so when he retweeted three videos on Wednesday to make a point, he probably didn’t realize that one of them might not be appropriate under Twitter’s policy. It was a described by Newsweek as a “snuff film,” and Twitter doesn’t usually allow such images on their site.
According to Newsweek, even if does turn out that this film renders Trump standing in violation of Twitter’s rules, the site probably won’t ban him or penalize him in any way. The videos that Trump posted to share with his followers were originally posted by Jayda Fransen, “a woman convicted of verbally assaulting a Muslim woman in front of her children last year and the deputy leader of far-right group Britain First,” according to HuffPost.
BBC News reports that Trump retweeted anti-Muslim videos that originated from a far-right group. That is their description of the clips he retweeted. Trump got some backlash for these retweeted videos with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, who said it was “wrong for the president to have done this.”
The Daily Beast calls the video clip that Trump retweeted an “Anti-Muslim Snuff Film.” The clips can be seen on Trump’s Twitter account. One shows the boy being pushed off a roof and beaten to death, another shows a boy with crutches being beaten up, and yet another has the statue of the Virgin Mary being destroyed.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders stepped in to say that Trump was using these videos to get a point across when it comes to border security. The videos are a wake-up call that demonstrates how there are people in the world who are very capable of evil acts. She said that Mrs. May and the other world leaders knew these threats are real and they need to be talked about. Huckabee Sanders also said whether the video itself is real or not, “the threat is real.”
The video is in a post that reads “Video: Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off the roof and beats him to death!” The video clip is included in the retweet that Trump posted today. According to Newsweek, this snuff video is very graphic and disturbing to watch.
Newsweek suggests that this video “may violate Twitter’s rules.” The rules state that graphic violence is not allowed in the “form of gory media related to death, serious injury, violence, or surgical procedures.”
Twitter also has a hateful conduct policy that states the following.
“You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease.”
This giant social media site has been known to allow some forms of graphic material, but it first must give the viewer a warning “marked as containing sensitive data.” When Trump retweeted the video, he did not offer up that warning.
Considering who President Trump is and the amount of Twitter usage he is known for, Twitter taking Trump’s account down is not something that is likely to happen. According to Newsweek, it is “unlikely the social media behemoth will take any action against the president because Twitter has built in a de facto Trump clause.”
Some of Trump’s tweets in the past could possibly fall under a violation policy of the social media giant, and when people have reported Trump’s violations in the past, a spokeswoman for the company said it is “continuing a comprehensive review of our verification policies,” writes Newsweek.
