Twitter and Facebook will not tolerate content that wishes death upon US President Donald Trump. Both platforms began strictly enforcing this policy after President Trump became diagnosed with COVID-19.

Facebook and Twitter Take Death Wishes Seriously

After President Trump announced that he tested positive for COVID-19, people turned to social media to express their thoughts on the matter. Many users posted content that wished death upon President Trump.

On October 2nd, 2020, Twitter Comms sent out a Tweet regarding its policy on threats and death wishes. It noted that any posts "that wish or hope for death" will get removed by the platform. However, violation of its policies won't result in the suspension of the user.

Twitter stated that this rule doesn't just apply to threats directed towards President Trump---it applies to death wishes directed at anyone.

This policy isn't anything new, as it's already been established as a rule on Twitter's Help Center. On this page, Twitter outlines its policies on death wishes, stating:

We do not tolerate content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual or group of people.

Even still, users have criticized Twitter for not strictly enforcing this rule in the past. Some users question why Twitter has decided to take action on death threats now, and also claim that Twitter hasn't done much to prevent death threats before.

Twitter Safety sent out a Tweet in response to the criticism that Twitter is "enforcing some policies inconsistently."

While the platform didn't give any specific reasons as to why it may have failed to put a stop to abusive behavior in the past, it states that it will try to do better in the future.

Facebook is also enforcing its policy on death wishes. Liz Bourgeois, Facebook's communications director, turned to Twitter to clarify Facebook's policies on this kind of behavior.

Facebook plans on removing posts, comments, and tagged content that wishes death upon President Trump. The platform has already banned all kinds of hate speech, including blackface, so it only makes sense that a crackdown on death wishes would follow.

Did the Ban on Death Wishes Come Too Late?

For some, Facebook and Twitter's strict enforcement against death wishes could've come sooner. These platforms might've been a bit lax about this policy in the past, but hopefully, this crackdown will prevent future death threats from surfacing.

Unfortunately, Facebook and Twitter likely can't manage to remove all threats and abusive content from its platform, which is exactly why the mute button exists.