But even as Twitter attempted to enforce its rules more stringently, thinly veiled posts slipped through the cracks.īy referencing schadenfreude, karma or the old adage “you reap what you sow” in reference to Trump’s illness, many Twitter users avoided explicitly violating the site’s abuse policy while leaving no doubt as to their intended sentiment. On the same day that President Donald Trump announced his COVID-19 diagnosis, Twitter reminded users of its policy that “tweets that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against *anyone* are not allowed and will need to be removed.” The social media platform soon filled with posts accusing it of hypocrisy: threats targeting women and people of color have accumulated for years without removal, users said.
