| Dear Katy, Twitter says violent threats are banned on its platform, but once again it is giving Donald Trump a free pass. This time, Trump threatened the people of Iran, promising "CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE." In the past, Trump made similar threats against the people of North Korea and promoted violence and hate speech toward Muslims and journalists.1,2 It is long past time for Twitter to stop profiting from Trump's hateful rants and crack down on his account before he starts a war or gets more people killed. Tell Twitter: Crack down on @RealDonaldTrump. Click here to sign the petition. This isn't the first time Trump threatened war on Twitter. In September of last year, he threatened on Twitter that North Korea "won't be around much longer," which North Korea's foreign minister announced was a declaration of war.3 Trump also made international headlines for retweeting inflammatory and fake Islamophobic videos and emboldening violent white supremacists by sharing their memes and posts with millions of followers.4,5 And of course, Trump repeatedly used Twitter to share content inciting violence against CNN and other journalists. He contributed to a climate of hate and an uptick in hate crimes and violence. Last summer in Charlottesville, Virginia, a white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of peaceful protestors and killed a woman. Just last month, a man shot and killed five journalists in Annapolis, Maryland.6,7 Twitter's coddling of Donald Trump could have even more deadly consequences. Trump has a history of setting official government policy via tweet. If he spouts off without thinking, makes a disastrous typo – or if his account were to be hacked – the result could be nuclear war. Tell Twitter: Crack down on @RealDonaldTrump. Click here to sign the petition. Despite the possible repercussions and Trump's repeated violations, Twitter has yet to act. It is not too much to ask for Twitter to ensure that White House staff verify any Trump tweets before they are posted. Or, Twitter could stop coddling white supremacists and authoritarians and follow through on its own terms of service by revoking Trump's account. If his account tweeted that he had ordered a military strike – whether it was from his own thumbs or because the account had been hacked – countless American lives could be lost before cooler heads prevail. Twitter has more than enough reason to revoke Trump's account based on its own rules. It must either do so or institute immediate safeguards, or all of us could pay the price. Tell Twitter: Crack down on @RealDonaldTrump. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trump_twitter_iran?t=8&akid=29442%2E12967895%2EM3rYoX Thank you for speaking out, Kaili Lambe, Organizing Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Suzanne Maloney, "Iran Isn't Taking Trump's Twitter Bait—For Now," The Atlantic, July 25, 2018.
- Jack Moore, "Donald Trump's Twitter Account Is Very Much in Violation of Twitter's Terms of Service," GQ, Aug. 11, 2017.
- Zachary Cohen, "North Korea accuses Trump of declaring war," CNN, Sept. 25, 2017.
- Alanna Petroff, "Twitter suspends Britain First account that Trump retweeted," CNN, Dec. 18, 2017.
- Judd Legum, "3 White Supremacists On Twitter That Inspire Donald Trump," ThinkProgress, July 3, 2016.
- Eileen Sullivan and Maggie Haberman, "Trump Shares, Then Deletes, Twitter Post of Train Hitting Cartoon Person Covered by CNN Logo," The New York Times, Aug. 15, 2017.
- Brian Stelter, "Annapolis attack: Deadliest day for journalism in US since 9/11," CNN, June 28, 2018.
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