ADVERTISEMENT

FCC Chair Challenges Twitter After It Warns About Trump Tweet

FCC Chair Challenges Twitter After It Warns On Trump Tweet

(Bloomberg) -- The chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission challenged Twitter Inc. over a bellicose posting from Iran’s top leader hours after the company put a warning about glorifying violence on a tweet from President Donald Trump.

“Serious question for @Twitter: Do these tweets from Supreme Leader of Iran @khamenei_ir violate “Twitter Rules about glorifying violence”? Ajit Pai said in a tweet.

He attached screen shots of May 22 tweets from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei predicting the eventual elimination of Israel.

The post was in apparent reference to Twitter slapping a rule-violation notice on a tweet from Trump that included the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” in reference to unrest in Minneapolis.

Under an executive order Trump signed Thursday, the FCC would write rules to loosen legal protections for Twitter and other social media platforms hosting content from others.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.