Twitter and Facebook have disabled a Donald Trump campaign video over copyright violations that slammed “radical leftwing groups” for the protests across the US.
The video posted from @TeamTrump and @TrumpWarRoom accounts was a four-minute tribute to African American George Floyd who died in Minneapolis after a police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
While Twitter disabled the video, Facebook and Instagram removed posts with the video on Trump campaign accounts.
“As per our copyright policy, we respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorized representatives,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
The Trump campaign hit back, accusing Twitter and its CEO Jack Dorsey of “censoring” Trump’s “uplifting and unifying message.”
A Facebook spokesperson said that they “received a copyright complaint from the creator under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and have removed the post”.
The Trump campaign later tweeted: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner”.
In an earlier escalation, US President Donald Trump, known for his spontaneous tweets, attacking his political rivals and media organisations, was fact-checked by Twitter for the first time.
In a tweet sent on May 26, Trump levelled some serious allegations against the mail-in-ballot system of voting ahead of presidential elections due this year. Trump said, “Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed.” The statement was made without presenting any evidence or fact.
Twitter has now added a link reading “Get the facts about mail-in ballots” under his tweets, that guides users to a Twitter “moments” page with fact checks and news stories about Trump’s unsubstantiated claims.
Trump was quick to react to this development as he tweeted, “Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!”
Trump later signed an executive order threatening to slash protections for social media companies.
After Trump threatened the micro-blogging platform, Dorsey defended the fact checking action against him.
“Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that’s me. We’ll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. And we will admit to and own any mistakes we make,” tweeted Dorsey.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Saturday said the company has started a workstream for building products to “advance racial justice”.
(With inputs from IANS)