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  6.  » Twitter says calling Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa a ‘white Christian terrorist’ doesn’t violate its misinformation policies

Dave Urbanski – The Blaze.com March 24, 2021

Twitter told Newsweek that characterizing accused mass killer Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa as a “white Christian terrorist” doesn’t violate its misinformation policies — even though Alissa is from Syria and has been identified as Muslim.

What are the details?

Authorities charged Alissa, 21, with 10 counts of first-degree murder in connection with Monday’s mass killing in King Sooper’s grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.

But prior to the suspect’s identity being made public, the magazine said numerous Twitter users assumed the suspect was white and characterized the massacre as another example of racial injustice and white supremacy in the United States, as it followed the mass killing in Atlanta by a white male.

And lo and behold, that “white supremacy” narrative blew up in Twitter users’ faces when authorities revealed that Alissa’s family emigrated to the U.S. from Syria and that his own brother said in the past Alissa was bullied for being Muslim, CNN reported.

More from Newsweek:

Some users have deleted their tweets calling him white. Others have defended their claims, saying they were based on Alissa’s skin color rather than his ethnicity.

Newsweek put the misleading posts to Twitter. The social network has been accused of left-wing bias and anti-Christian prejudice in the way it polices speech on its platform.

In January, for example, Twitter locked the account of The Catholic Review, apparently for tweeting an article that described assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Rachel Levine as “a biological man identifying as a transgender woman.”

A Twitter spokeswoman said the “white Christian terrorist” tweet and other false posts did not violate its rules.

“The Tweets referenced are not in violation of the Twitter Rules,” the spokesperson noted, according to the magazine. “We will not take action on every instance of misinformation. Currently, our misinformation rules cover COVID-19 misinformation, synthetic and manipulated media, and civic integrity.”

Newsweek said Twitter’s policies on synthetic and manipulated media include deepfake videos, and its civic integrity policies forbid things like “false claims that the 2020 U.S. election was rigged.”

What tweets did Newsweek send to Twitter?

The magazine said it sent Twitter four tweets for review:

A white Christian Terrorist killed ten innocent people with a gun in a grocery store, Colrado, USA. @BBCWorld… https://t.co/ZpXTkdOYPv

— SoHaiL SaNi (@SoHaiL SaNi)1616520486.0

A second courtesy of outspoken, far-left actress Rosanna Arquette:

 

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