Twitter Will Remove Tweets Wishing For Someone's Death Or Serious Harm

Twitter has brought to light one of its policies after a surge in a particular type of tweets overnight. Ever since the US President revealed that he was tested positive for COVID-19, many people began tweeting they were in favor of the virus. Soon after, Twitter said that it doesn't allow tweets that wish or hope for the death of anyone in its policies.

Twitter Policies Explained

An article by Motherboard asks Twitter about the behavior observed in many tweets - where people were in favor of the COVID-19 virus striking the US President and the First Lady. Twitter responded that it has a valid rule under its policies that such tweets weren't allowed. "Wishing or hoping serious harm on a person or group of people" isn't allowed on Twitter, the policy says.

Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020

Going further into the details, Twitter notes that it doesn't "tolerate content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual or group of people." This also includes, but isn't limited to hoping someone dies as a result of a serious disease.

In order to clarify the rules, Twitter's official communications handle tweeted that breaking these rules will result in having the tweets removed, but might not require suspension of the account. We've seen many earlier circumstances where the tweets were removed, and the accounts were locked until then.

tweets that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against *anyone* are not allowed and will need to be removed. this does not automatically mean suspension. https://t.co/lQ8wWGL2y0 https://t.co/P2vGfUeUQf

— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) October 2, 2020

Twitter Rules: What It Means

That said, there have been hordes of such tweets across the globe. One might question why Twitter brought the rule to the limelight now? Nevertheless, Twitter isn't the only platform that is removing content wishing for someone's death. A Facebook spokesperson also said that it would be removing posts that wish for POTUS's death, including comments and posts tagging him. In India too, there have been plenty of posts - both on Facebook and Twitter brimming with hate content. It remains to see if these posts and tweets will also be removed henceforth.