Twitter has released a statement on its official account in regards to the social media platform ignoring reports against Cesar Sayoc Jr., who is suspected of sending bombs to prominent US politicians by mail. Twitter admitted making a "mistake" and wrote that it was "deeply sorry" that the reported tweet had not been removed.
The platform went on to say that it's looking into reasons as to why the tweet was not removed and promised to fix the situation in regards to reporting in the future.
However, many twitterians were left dissatisfied with the social media platform's statement. Many noted that Twitter has a systematic problem with not removing abusive tweets and not banning repeating offenders. Former Congressional Press Secretary Rochelle Ritchie was among the first to criticize the platform's performance in dealing with reported content.
Hey @Twitter remember when I reported the guy who was making threats towards me after my appearance on @FoxNews and you guys sent back a bs response about how you didn’t find it that serious. Well guess what it’s the guy who has been sending #bombs to high profile politicians!!!! pic.twitter.com/xBY8FMbqnq
— R O C H E L L E (@RochelleRitchie) October 26, 2018
And she was not alone. Many users wrote that accounts violating Twitter's rules have frequently remained active even after multiple reports.
i report abusive tweets all the time, get a message from you that they are in violation, yet all of these accts. are still open. hello?
— Dusty Rhodes (@MediaWest) October 27, 2018
Every account I’ve reported in the past couple years for death threats/harassment/blatant hate speech is still active. Most of the time they don’t even notify me about reports.
— Chairman Skelefrog (@DanMoffTarkin) October 27, 2018
A lot of twitterians were infuriated that the social media platform considered that it should merely have "removed" the "MAGAbomber's" threatening tweets instead of outright banning him.
The tweet should have been removed? You still don't get it. People are harassing, threatening, trying to intimidate us. When we tell you, you simply don't understand what is happening. Harassers should be banned from Twitter. @twitter @jack
— Frida Ghitis (@FridaGhitis) October 27, 2018
Exactly. Especially when he had so many of them. These are only a handful of additional death threats that the Magabomber made towards people that I got screenshots of before his accounts were shut down. pic.twitter.com/kw5O8X9AUO
— 🧛🏻♀️🐰Bunicula🐰🧛🏻♀️ (@BuniculaTv) October 27, 2018
Some of them suggested that Twitter should have gone as far as to report the man to local authorities
The tweet shouldn't have just "been removed". He should've been banned from your website and, based on his account history, should've been reported to the authorities if at all possible.
— diane 👩🏾💻 (@dianelyssa) October 27, 2018
You didn't care then and you only care now because not caring then just bit you in the ass.
Serious question… is there any set of circumstances under which you would notify law enforcement (local, state, or federal) for anything a user tweets that is against your rules? Have you ever done it before? Would you in the future?
— Ryan Sloane (@RyanFSloane) October 27, 2018
One user even said that Twitter should be held accountable for failing to address the bomber's threats properly.
A mistake is when you forget your keys at work.
— Max Sparber (@maxsparber) October 27, 2018
This was criminal negligence and your site has consistently failed to take action to address this.
Several twitterians suggested that the company simply doesn't care about what happens on the platform.
The bottom line, as Seth Rogen so eloquently stated, is that they just don't give a ____. Jack either has made a business decision that he needs the users no matter how abusive they may be, or he has personal leanings that are influencing his decision.
— Adam Strassberg (@adambstrassberg) October 27, 2018
The US Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security have intercepted at least 14 potentially dangerous explosive devices that were allegedly sent by Florida resident Cesar Sayoc Jr. The man has been dubbed the "MAGAbomber" by media, as the bombs targeted prominent US Democrats and opponents of Donald Trump. Among them were the Clintons, former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, former CIA Director John Brennan, as well as actor and Trump critic Robert De Niro. The suspect was arrested on October 26 and is now in custody.
