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posted by janrinok on Sunday January 07 2018, @11:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the It's-not-bannable-if-it's-the-president's-tweet dept.

Many Twitter users have reported threats of genocide and the use of weapons of mass destruction by one Twitterati in particular, but Twitter does not think these violate the terms of usage at Twitter. Tweet, at Mashable.

The President of the United States possibly made another threat of nuclear war on Twitter, but the company doesn't seem to think the post breaks any of its rules. Donald Trump boasted on Twitter about how his nuclear button was bigger than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's, and people are calling (again) for the president to be banned from the platform.

Folks on Twitter are asking the platform whether this violates its policy against violent threats. So far the response from Twitter has been in the form of an automated response in which Twitter says Trump's message represents "no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behavior."

Mashable checked, just in case:

Twitter confirmed to Mashable that "this Tweet did not violate our terms of service," referencing the Twitter Rules against violent threats and glorification of violence.

"You may not make specific threats of violence or wish for the serious physical harm, death, or disease of an individual or group of people," the rules state.

So it seems that if you are going to threaten serious "physical harm, death or disease" on Twitter, be sure to include everyone by using nukes, instead of just one individual or group.


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  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday January 08 2018, @09:17PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday January 08 2018, @09:17PM (#619709) Journal

    Saying your gun is bigger is not a specific threat.

    What? Of course it is. Remember this one: “Our arrows will block out the sun?" That's what Xerxes said to Leonidas, and now classics majors thrill to it and Leonidas's brave reply, “Then we shall have our battle in the shade!” It's the same thing as saying, "My gun is bigger than your gun."

    how does BS like this even help?

    Well, for one thing it makes the consequences crystal clear for Kim Jong Un if he continues on the course he's on. It also makes it crystal clear for China what will happen to their junkyard dog if they don't control him. It makes things crystal clear for our allies in the region and elsewhere that America will protect them against the nuclear threat from North Korea.

    Maybe you're too young to remember the run-up to the Gulf War. A similar escalation of threats preceded it, with Saddam defiant and George Bush (Sr) telling him Iraqi forces must withdraw from Kuwait or be forcibly expelled. Saddam, of course, thought that the weak Americans were bluffing, because Americans are actually pussies who are all talk and no action. Except. Except the American military surgically, quickly dismantled the largest military in the Middle East without suffering many casualties itself. It was a large, powerful Third World army that does not look too different from North Korea's, incidentally.

    A similar chain of events preceded the invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11. The American government demanded Afghanistan turn over Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban government responded with cheek about how they couldn't do that because he was their guest, and Islam demands you defend a guest against infidels with your life or some nonsense like that. And, as we all know, the American government handily whacked the Taliban and reduced them very quickly and drove them out of the country. And that's after all the "experts" were pissing and moaning on and on on every talk show and press circle jerk about how that was a baaaad idea because Afghanistan is "The Graveyard of Empires."

    In short, the prelude to military action has pretty consistently consisted of an escalating exchange of threats, with the American military, which is really pretty good and well trained and sophisticated and well-equipped, summarily dispatching the opponents that talking heads moan on and on about.

    If I were Kim Jong Un, and China, I would think about that consistent record very seriously and figure out a way out of the situation that does not result in getting whacked by the American military.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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