While Twitter allowed the rapper Wiley to post his antisemitic rants, and only banned him from the platform after a widespread boycott of Twitter was underway, it has been consistently solicitous of another, much more dangerous antisemite, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The story is here.
A Twitter official on Wednesday informed Israeli lawmakers that tweets in which Iranian officials, in particular Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pledge to eradicate the Jewish state are not in violation of the social media giant’s rules against hate speech.
Ylwa Pettersson, Twitter’s head policy for the Nordic countries and Israel said that such posts are considered mere “foreign policy saber-rattling.”
Is it mere “foreign policy saber rattling” to repeatedly call for the complete destruction of the Jewish state and the murder, or expulsion, of its Jewish inhabitants? “Foreign policy sabre-rattling” occurs when, for example, Turkish President Erdogan threatens to push the Kurds in northern Syria all the way south to the Iraqi border, or when President Putin warns the Ukraine that “Russia will fight to keep the Crimea,” or when General El-Sisi warns that Egyptian troops will enter Libya if the GNA (Government of National Accord) forces, with Turkish help, push east beyond Sirte. No genocidal threats of any kind: Erdogan does not announce his troops will kill all the Kurds. Putin does not threaten to “destroy” the Ukraine and all of its inhabitants; El-Sisi does not threaten to annihilate all the Libyans supporting the GNA. The Supreme Leader’s tweets about Israel are very different. He is not merely sabre-rattling, but expressing, on many occasions, his genocidal desire to destroy not just the Jewish state, but the men, women, and children in Israel.
Khamenei has compared Israel to a “cancerous tumor” and to the coronavirus, and he has called for the nation to be “uprooted and destroyed.” The ayatollah, who wields complete control over the regime, made similar comments on July 22 in an in-person speech.
“Some argue that the Zionist regime is a reality that the region must come to terms with,” Khamenei said in one tweet. “Today the #Covid_19 is a reality; should it be accepted or fought?! The long-lasting virus of Zionism will be uprooted thanks to the determination and faith of the youth. #Covid1948.” You do not merely shrink “a cancerous tumor,” but must eliminate it altogether; the same is true for the coronavirus, which must be eradicated by means of a vaccine. Khamenei means for us to understand that the size of the “Zionist state” does not matter; he implies that even were Israel to be squeezed back within the 1949 armistice lines, that would still leave the “cancer” of a Jewish state within the Muslim body politic. And that is why they need not merely to be reduced in size, but completely eliminated.
Twitter’s rules on terrorism and violent extremism state: “There is no place on Twitter for … individuals who affiliate with and promote [terrorist group’s] illicit activities. … Our assessments in this context are informed by national and international terrorism designations.”
Ayatollah Khamenei, and Iran, support with weapons and financing the terror group Hezbollah. The U.S., Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and many other countries, as well as the E.U. as a whole, now have recognized both wings – political and military – of Hezbollah as part of one terror group, and all Hezbollah activities are banned in those countries. Meanwhile, Iran is the sole backer of Hezbollah, and has supplied it with 140,000 missiles and rockets, which Hezbollah has hidden all over southern Lebanon and southern Beirut, for use against Israel in some future war. Iran also has been supplying Hezbollah with large amounts of money; until Iran’s current financial troubles began, Ayatollah Khamenei was giving the terror group $800 million a year. Doesn’t that clearly show that Ayatollah Khamenei, according to Twitter’s own rules, is an “individual who affiliates with and promotes terrorist groups [Hezbollah] illicit activities”? What more evidence does one need than the 140,000 missiles Iran has supplied to Hezbollah, and the $800 million a year subsidy that Khamenei has also been sending to Hezbollah, a recognized terror group? Apparently that’s not enough for Twitter. What would it take to have Twitter ban the Supreme Leader?
“We have an approach toward leaders that says that direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on military-economic issues are generally not in violation of our rules,” Pettersson was quoted by the Times of Israel as telling the Knesset’s Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs, via video-conference.
“Calling for genocide on Twitter is okay, but commenting on the political situation in certain countries is not okay?” asked Blue and White MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh, to which Pettersson reportedly replied, “If a world leader violates our rules but there is a clear interest in keeping that up on the service we may place it behind a notice that provides some more context about the violation and allows people to click through if they wish to see that type of content.”
“Wow. Twitter just admitted that tweets calling genocide against Jews by Iranian leaders DON’T violate its policy!”, Cotler-Wunsh tweeted after the session ended. “This is a double standard. This is antisemitism.”
A spokesperson for Twitter later said that tweets the likes of which are posted by Khamenei “are not in violation of our policies,” pointing to the company’s policy according to which “foreign policy saber-rattling on economic or military issues are generally not in violation of the Twitter Rules.”
The genocidal threats of Khamenei don’t violate Twitter’s policy because, according to Twitter, they constitute mere “foreign policy saber-ratting on military or economic issues.” Would Tweeter feel the same if President Trump posted on Tweeter threats to wipe Iran from the face of the earth, and kill or expel every last Iranian? Would the resultant outcry lead it to conclude that this went beyond mere “foreign policy saber-rattling on military matters”? I’m sure it would. I’m convinced that Twitter would take down such posts very quickly, announcing that “these are genocidal threats, beyond all rational discussion and serving no useful purpose for public debate. Twitter will not tolerate such a use of its platform, and such tweets, even if by the President, have been and will continue to be promptly taken down.”
But when it comes to Israel, a foreign leader’s repeated threat to destroy the entire country of Israel and eradicate its Jewish citizens – though it certainly “serves no useful purpose for public debate” — is just fine for Tweeter. It meets the company’s standard of merely being “foreign policy sabre rattling on military issues.” So that’s all it is! From Ayatollah Khomeini, and Mahmoud Ahmedinajad, to Ayatollah Khamenei, issuing their threats against Israel, it’s all been mere “saber-rattling.” The nuclear project, that Iran has continued to pursue despite its many setbacks and the sanctions it has incurred, and the medium-range ballistic missiles it has built, that could potentially be armed with nuclear warheads – well, Twitter thinks there is nothing to worry about, because when the Supreme Leader tweets that Israel should be destroyed, the Ayatollah doesn’t mean it. He’s engaging, Twitter knows (from the profound study of Twelver-Shi’ism undertaken by its executives), not in a real threat, but only in mere “foreign-policy saber-rattling.” That should calm the Israelis down considerably.
Walter Sieruk says
Today as of the date of 8/5/2202 Facebook removed by posting a quote r a book written by Robert Spencer because it notified me because it claimed that the posting want against its “Community Standards.”
The following is my posting what was in violation of its C.C.
About that Sharia law based tyrannical Islamic regime of Iran which has the official title of “The Islamic Republic of Iran” and also about the chief and head Imam, Ayatollah Khomeini, who had a strong hand in establishing this so called “Republic “
The very actual essence of that Islamic tyranny ,Ayatollah Khomeini had made in known that “The Islamic Republic of Iran would be Islamic and nothing but .He declared ‘What the nation wants is an Islamic Republic . Not just a Republic, not a democratic Republic, not a democratic Islamic Republic. Do not use the word “democratic” to describe it. That is the Western style. ‘” [1]
[1]`THE HISTORY OF JIHAD by Robert Spencer, page 318.
toomanyhobbies says
Are they biased…. damn straight they are….
Vladimir says
Twitter, like other corporations, likes to make money. If they anger Muslims by banning such language from it’s leaders, there’s a good chance at very real danger to life and limb and destruction of corporate property, which among other things effects the bottom line of the corporation; money. So they fold and give in with circumstances like these. The love of money is the root of all evil, and not least of these evils is weakness, cowardice and stupidity in the hearts and minds of those who love money.
St. Croix says
They certainly do love the money. And they contradict themselves all the time in how they apply their guidelines. The double standards live.
At the same time, it’s all there in plain view–exactly what the Iranian leader believes and hopes and tries to plan and make happen re: Israel. YET I cannot believe how many people I encounter who flatly deny that the person said these things, or tell me I’m making it up to fit my story.
Or they deny it means what it means. Just like Facebook, Twitter etc. The same with Turkey, where Erdogan was stated plainly his ambitions to revive the caliphate of the Ottomans, and also shares a similar plan as Iranian leadership in the conquering and invasion of Israel. Yet people I talk to say “He doesn’t really mean that.” Or, “He didn’t even say it.”
How can they live in such denial? “Thankfully” we have the evidence right there on social media that they did indeed say those things. So if people are racists, if they are anti-Semites, if they are jihadists, social media can be a place where they let it all hang out. Then there is hard evidence of what they have said.
Despite those who, against all reason and evidence, give them the “benefit of the doubt”…and try to put a positive spin on the words. Or say it’s just “saber-rattling”…
Giving the benefit of the doubt doesn’t apply to Trump of course, he’s obviously guilty before ever being tried or even formally accused!
Nor do they give the benefit of the doubt to everyone’s punching bag, Israel. Already I saw people leaping on social media to accuse Israel of attacking Lebanon, even of dropping a nuke on them. It’s not just in ignorance they say this, it’s in HOPE. They want Israel to be a monster. They want Trump to be a criminal and an idiot. Selection bias, and even if there’s no real evidence to select from, as the case may be. That’s no obstacle in these days of dubbing and photo manipulation!
Inciting violence should not be allowed on a platform, and it isn’t supposed to be. However, as I say, the one benefit when these anti-Semites etc expose themselves publicly is that we know where they stand and what they stand for, even if they try and back-peddle with an “oops! you caught me, but that was so yesterday! I’m different now”… At least there can be no denial what they’ve tweeted or posted. (At least until they are under investigation and the CIA scrubs their page or account so no one can see it, which has happened in the case of numerous jihadi attacks, after the fact. Until they did it, it was there on their page, for all to see, I mean their hatred and pro-jihad ideas).
And the Iranian supreme leader doesn’t try to deny that he means what he says. He is certainly putting his money where his mouth is, and investing heavily in his plans. At some point we may see him getting together with Erdogan to accomplish a common goal, despite their religious differences. After all, they DO have a lot in common when you look at the bigger picture.
Reziac says
So, yer sayin’ the rest of us should stage a ‘protest’ (of the modern ‘enthusiastic’ sort) at Twitter HQ?
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
The genocidal threats of Khamenei don’t violate Twitter’s policy because, according to Twitter, they constitute mere “foreign policy saber-ratting on military or economic issues.”
Who appointed social media companies to be arbiters of political discourse? Why, the U.S. Congress did by giving them liability exemption. So it is now that one side fits… one side. And the censorship fits the small government rule of law freedom side.
Btw, as a computer guy I know that Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page and Jeff Bezos didn’t invent a damned thing. All they did was implement the Internet protocols. They’re tech oligarchs who started and operate media properties, they didn’t invent a single computer technology among them. But they think they’re so smart that they must control discourse and influence events, especially elections.
Daniel Triplett says
I agree with you Brother, either they stay hands-off, allowing users to use their platform for free uncensored speech, or they step up to the plate for scrutiny just like every other news and editorial organization does. They’re abusing the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA), and it must end now.
jule says
I thought people or organizations can be sue in US for threats and inciting violence. I cannot understand how this is still/continuously posted anywhere.
Giacomo Latta says
Zuckerburg has proven himself many times over to be an accidental genius. Chances are that the others you mentioned are in the same boat but it’s hard to tell when microphone holders don’t shove it in their face for commentary. These are our de facto leaders.
SB says
He is a child molester.
Herschel Ben Avraham says
Twitter’s executives who formulate policies which facilitate anti-humanity regimes like the ayatollahs in Iran, and the terrorists will pay a heavy price ultimately.
gravenimage says
Twitter Allows Iran’s Supreme Leader to Keep Posting His Annihilationist Threats
………………
But those who peacefully point out the violence of Islam are banned–madness.
jule says
What would happen if thousands of people posted exactly what Iran does but replaces the name Israel with Islam and rattles a few ‘sabers’?
gravenimage says
They would be accused of Islamophobia. Few would see the irony.
OLD GUY says
Well of course the media gives him a free pass to hate America. These media idiots will be the first to burn when people like the Ayatollah take charge of the world. This so called Supreme Leader thrives off of the media coverage he gets.