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For the second time in less than three weeks, Twitter has said it will look at its policies following controversy over tweets by a politician. On Tuesday, Twitter reversed a decision it made the day before to block a campaign video from Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican representative from Tennessee, for breaking its ad policies. In a media statement, a Twitter spokesperson said \u201cWhile we initially determined that a small portion of the video used potentially inflammatory language,\u00a0after reconsidering the ad in the context of the entire message, we\u00a0believe that there is room to refine our policies around these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last month, Twitter promised an update to its \u201cpublic-facing rules\u201d<\/a> after explaining that it allowed a tweet by President Donald Trump about North Korea, which critics believed violated the platform\u2019s user policies<\/a>, to stay up because of its \u201cnewsworthiness.\u201d<\/p>\n According to a report by Buzzfeed News<\/a>, Twitter sent an email to the Blackburn campaign explaining it would allow the video ad if it removed a line mentioning the sale of \u201cbaby body parts,\u201d which refer to allegations by anti-abortion against Planned Parenthood which have been discredited by multiple state investigations<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the email, which was obtained by Buzzfeed, Twitter told the campaign that \u201cThe line in this video specific to \u2018stopped the sale of baby body parts\u2019 has been deemed an inflammatory statement that is likely to evoke a strong negative reaction. If this is omitted from the video it will be permitted to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n .@Twitter<\/a> shut down our video ad, claiming it\u2019s \u201cinflammatory\u201d \u201cnegative.\u201d Join me in standing up to Silicon Valley \u2192 RETWEET our message! pic.twitter.com\/K3w4AMgW6i<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) October 9, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Ironically (but not surprisingly), Twitter\u2019s initial decision to ban the ad gave it more publicity<\/a>, with former White House press secretary Sean Spicer tweeting that \u201cTwitter continues campaign against GOP.\u201d<\/p>\n .@Twitter<\/a> continues campaign against @GOP<\/a> : @AP<\/a> : Twitter shuts down @MarshaBlackburn<\/a> campaign announcement videohttps:\/\/t.co\/mK3t4gjUfJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) October 9, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Blackburn also used the ban as an opportunity to attack Twitter, Silicon Valley and the \u201cliberal elite\u201d on Twitter.<\/p>\n The conservative revolution won\u2019t be stopped by @Twitter<\/a> and the liberal elite. Donate to my Senate campaign today! https:\/\/t.co\/McCubzaFQD<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) October 10, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n While critics across the political spectrum have long accused Twitter<\/a> of applying its policies in an arbitrary way, the divisive political atmosphere in the U.S. has put even more pressure on social media companies like Twitter and Facebook to justify how they enforce their content policies. Adding another layer of complexity to the issue are ongoing Congressional investigations <\/a>over how much major tech companies like Twitter, Facebook and Google knew about ads that were bought and placed by a Russian company to influence the 2016 presidential election.<\/p>\n Instead of providing clarity, however, Twitter\u2019s promises to \u201cupdate\u201d or \u201crefine\u201d its policies may add to the confusion, especially if it doesn\u2019t also provide more transparency to how they are applied. TechCrunch has asked Twitter when it will give more specific information about policy changes to users.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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