Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) that he won’t take down a tweet where President Donald Trump attacked her using a video that cut between comments she made and the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a new report.
The Washington Post reports that Dorsey spoke on the phone with Omar earlier this week and despite questions from the Minnesota lawmaker, he told her that the video did not violate the company’s rules.
Earlier this month the president tweeted a video that showed remarks made by Omar during a speech for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) that switched between images of the Twin Towers burning and collapsing. Above it, Trump wrote: “WE WILL NEVER FORGET!”
Following the video’s posting, Omar said she had seen an “increase in direct threats on my life” and added that “violent rhetoric and all forms of hate speech have no place in our society, much less from our country’s Commander in Chief. We are all Americans. This is endangering lives. It has to stop.”
The Post reported that Dorsey explained that the video had already been seen by people outside of Twitter and told the Minnesota lawmaker the company needed to deal with harassment better.
In a statement to the newspaper, Twitter confirmed the phone conversation took place.
“During their conversation, [Dorsey] emphasized that death threats, incitement to violence, and hateful conduct are not allowed on Twitter… We’ve significantly invested in technology to proactively surface this type of content and will continue to focus on reducing the burden on the individual being targeted. Our team has also consistently been in touch with Rep. Omar’s office.”
Twitter echoed those comments in a statement to the Daily Dot.
Jack called Congresswoman Omar on Tuesday. During their conversation, he emphasized that death threats, incitement to violence, and hateful conduct are not allowed on Twitter. We’ve significantly invested in technology to proactively surface this type of content and will continue to focus on reducing the burden on the individual being targeted. Our team has also consistently been in touch with Rep. Omar’s office.”
Dorsey met with Trump earlier this week and the president reportedly complained that he was losing followers on Twitter.
You can read all of the Washington Post report here.
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