Two weeks prior to #MAGABomber Cesar Sayoc’s arrest for mailing pipe bombs to political figures across the country, he threatened political commentator Rochelle Ritchie on Twitter. She reported the menacing tweets and Twitter, apparently, had no issues with the threat on her life.
Twitter has a policy where abusive, threatening or harassing behavior can be reported and could lead to a temporary or permanent suspension on the popular social media site.
The tweets by Sayoc clearly demonstrated the threat on Ritchie’s life. Below are the tweets from Ritchie and Sayoc with reference to the threats. She also referenced Sayoc being the same person who was arrested for sending the pipe bombs.
However, Twitter didn’t see an issue. Their response read flatly: “We have reviewed your report carefully and found that there was no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behavior.”
Ritchie spoke of the bias plainly stating: “I had reported this to Twitter and they did absolutely nothing about it. What’s abusive behavior Do I have to be found floating in the Everglades in order for this to be taken seriously Does a bomb have to go off in order for this to be taken seriously”
Twitter, using the handle @TwitterSafety, “apologized” in a series of tweets for not initially removing the tweets sent to Ritchie by Sayoc citing: “The Tweet clearly violated our rules and should have been removed.”
Now, Twitter is supposedly launching an investigation.
Twitter seems to keep getting it wrong by being reactive as opposed to being proactive in putting a stop to threatening behaviors on the site. Both Twitter and Facebook have a history of letting white supremacists and right-wing extremists have carte blanc with reference to their constant racist attacks on minorities.
