Twitter accused of double standard for censoring Trump but not Iranian leader
Twitter is facing scrutiny for flagging posts by President Trump but allowing Iran's ayatollah to call for the genocide of Israel.
It is "clear" that Twitter's hypocritical censorship of President Trump -- and not of Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- is about the upcoming presidential election in November, State Department deputy envoy Ellie Cohanim stated Friday.
In an interview on "Fox & Friends," Cohanim explained that she was born in Iran and that her family had to flee the country during the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and rising anti-Semitism.
"So, I can tell you that I personally understand the threat that...Ayatollah Khamenei presents to the Jewish people and to the world," she remarked.
Cohanim, the deputy special envoy combating anti-Semitism, said the social media giant's double standard is exposed while they continue to give a platform to a "despot" who has called for genocide and, instead, censor Trump.
"The hypocrisy is so thick it becomes clear to me, Pete, that this is about one thing and one thing only and that's the elections coming up in the United States on November 3rd," she told "Friends" host Pete Hegseth.
On Wednesday, Twitter defended its decision to flag President Trump's tweet about violent demonstrations but not Iran's calls for violence against Israel, suggesting to Israeli's legislature that the latter fell under its protections for "commentary on political issues of the day."
"So, calling for genocide is okay, but commenting on politics is not?" Knesset member Michal Cotler-Wunsh asked Twitter's Ylwa Pettersson.
Pettersson responded by suggesting that Trump risked provoking violence, an apparent reference to his post about ongoing riots surrounding George Floyd's death. She added that Twitter didn't completely remove the post because it wanted to ensure "citizens can see what their political figures are commenting and hold them accountable for what they are saying online."
"I think that what's come up again and again through different examples is actually a sense of double standards, and I would implore Twitter and other online platforms to ensure ... that there is no double standard in the application," Cotler-Wunsh replied.
Four Republican senators are asking Twitter to ban certain Iranian leaders from its platform. In a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the lawmakers noted that allowing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is a violation to keep their accounts violates U.S. sanctions. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
In a statement fo Fox News, a Twitter spokesperson echoed Pettersson's claims.
"Direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling...are generally not in violation of the Twitter Rules," they wrote Thursday. "However, if a Tweet from a world leader does violate the Twitter Rules but there is a clear public interest value to keeping the Tweet on the service, we may place it behind a notice that provides context about the violation..."
"Pete, you know, I’ll tell you something. They’ve never -- not once has there been any consequence to Khamenei's hatred and vitriol that’s all over Twitter," Cohanim reacted. "His vitriol goes back to 2014 when he laid out a nine-step plan for eliminating Israel.
"What is it that Donald Trump has tried to do?" she asked. "He has tried to communicate with the American people about advances in medical care with COVID. He’s tried to talk to the American people about preserving our safety and security. And, for that, he is being censored."
Cohanim noted that as a legal immigrant, she came to America for "freedom" and "liberty."
"What these social media companies are doing is that they’re after our very thought process. They’re like the thought police. They’re trying to limit our freedom," she said.
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"They’re trying to limit our abilities to be free Americans. And, what President Donald Trump is doing is he’s fighting for our freedom," Cohanim concluded.
Fox News' Sam Dorman contributed to this report.
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