Saturday, August 1, 2020

Why Does Twitter Foment Anti-Semitism?

How stupid do you have to be to work for Twitter? How stupid does Twitter imagine that people really are?


So, while no one was paying attention a Twitter spokeswoman was testifying before the Israeli Knesset last week. The question was: why does Twitter block access to tweets by President Trump but while allowing tweets by the Iranian Supreme Leader-- which promote genocide?


The New York Post reported:


A Twitter spokeswoman has defended the company’s decision to block and restrict tweets from President Trump but not those of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei which call for genocide of the Israeli people.


The reason? Because the Iranian dictator’s tweets pass as “commentary on political issues of the day” while Trump’s could “inspire harm,” Twitter claims.


During a hearing in front of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, lawmakers grilled a Twitter representative over why the platform was policing missives from Trump, but not other world leaders such as Khamenei calling Israel “a cancerous growth.”


“You have recently started flagging the tweets of President Trump. Why have you not flagged the tweets of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has literally called for the genocide of Israel and the Jewish people?” asked Arsen Ostrovsk, a human rights lawyer and member of the Israeli Jewish Congress.


“We have an approach to world leaders that presently say that direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on military and economic issues are generally not in violation of our Twitter rules,” the spokeswoman responded.


Stunned lawmaker Michal Cotler-Wunsh interrupted: “So calling for genocide is OK?”


“Calling for genocide on Twitter is OK, but commenting on political situations in certain countries is not OK?” she continued.


Got it? Calling for genocide would not inspire harm.


Naturally, the American press, given its current predilections, has ignored the story:


A clip of the exchange was shared on Twitter on Wednesday by former acting director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell who wrote: “This should be something the US media reports. Wow.”


Iran’s leader has repeatedly shared tweets calling Israel a “deadly, cancerous growth” to be “uprooted and destroyed” — all going unchecked by Twitter.


“The long-lasting virus of Zionism will be uprooted thanks to the determination and faith of the youth,” Khamenei wrote as recently as May.


The Twitter spokeswoman worked herself in a knot as she refused to answer why the platform had begun restricting the president’s tweets, but not Khamenei’s — leading to accusations of “double standards.”


“If a world leader violates our rules, but it is a clear interest in keeping that up on the servers, we may place it behind a notice that provides some more context about the violation,” the Twitter rep said.


“That it has happened for the Trump tweet, that tweet was violating our policies regarding the glorification of violence based on the historical context of the last line of that tweet and the risk that it could possibly inspire harm and similar actions,” she continued.


In May, Twitter placed a “public interest notice” on the president’s tweet amid violence in Minneapolis which read: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” leading to accusations of censorship and political bias.


Simply put, anti-Semitism is OK. Calling for genocide of Jews is OK. Being pro-Israeli is evidently not OK. Whatever the rationale, we know which side they are on. 


1 comment:

Sam L. said...

Twitter hates the normal people. Normal people hate Twitter back.