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Twitter users complain after Twitter says it will remove tweets hoping Trump dies from COVID-19

Several of these Twitter users are strong advocates of social media censorship.

If youโ€™re tired of censorship and surveillance, subscribe to Reclaim The Net.

After President Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19, Twitter was flooded with tweets from high-profile users hoping that he dies.

Twitter subsequently put out a statement warning that โ€œtweets that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against anyone are not allowed and will need to be removed.โ€

Now many Twitter users are outraged that they canโ€™t wish for the Presidentโ€™s death on Twitter with some blaming โ€œGamergateโ€ and Twitterโ€™s failure to censor enough in the past as the source of their frustration.

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar tweeted a sarcastic โ€œExcuse Me?โ€ GIF questioning the decision.

Omarโ€™s Senior Communications Director Jason Slevin complained that Omar โ€œgets actual death threats on this platform all the time and Twitter doesnโ€™t do shit.โ€

Author and indie game developer Zoรซ Quinn claimed that Twitter had ignored the casework she brought to Twitter as a โ€œtrained, trusted partnerโ€ in their internal processes and wrote that she was โ€œrooting againstโ€ Trump. She followed up with: โ€œGOD wouldnโ€™t it be just the BIGGEST SHAME if jack got it next? Absolutely terrible.โ€ Quinn is likely referencing Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

And game developer and writer Leena van Deventer responded to the announcement by calling Twitter โ€œfeckless cowardsโ€ and blaming Gamergate.

Ironically, some of those complaining about Twitter restricting their ability to tweet wishes or hopes that the President will die are vocal advocates of Big Tech censorship and call for these platforms to remove negative posts that are directed at them.

In 2015, Quinn called for the United Nations to censor the internet by shutting down โ€œbad actors and bad faith websitesโ€ and cited โ€œindividuals on services like YouTubeโ€ who make a living โ€œharassingโ€ her.

Quinn didnโ€™t name any of these bad actors or individuals and let people see for themselves whether these so-called harassment videos were actually just criticism that she wanted to be scrubbed from the internet.

Omar is also a supporter of social media censorship and has called for Trumpโ€™s tweets to be removed when theyโ€™re directed at her. She has also complained that Trumpโ€™s Twitter account hasnโ€™t been fully suspended.

These complaints about not being able to wish for someoneโ€™s death on Twitter come days after a new survey revealed a worrying trend โ€“ that almost one in five students are fine with deploying violence to shut down speech that they donโ€™t agree with.

Earlier this week, Twitterโ€™s former CEO Dick Costolo also advocated for violence against people that express opposing viewpoints when he tweeted that those who donโ€™t conform to activism in business will be shot and that heโ€™d โ€œhappily provide the video commentary.โ€

If youโ€™re tired of censorship and surveillance, subscribe to Reclaim The Net.