Twitter: We Should Have Deleted Bomber’s Threats

Business Insider reports:

Twitter said it is “deeply sorry” for failing to act on threatening tweets made by Cesar Sayoc, Jr., the 56-year-old Florida man who is suspected of sending improvised explosive devices to Democratic leaders and critics of President Donald Trump. On October 11, Sayoc published a threatening tweet to former congressional press secretary Rochelle Ritchie by telling her “We will see you 4 sure.” Ritchie alerted Twitter of the tweet made from Sayoc’s account, which contained several disturbing images and statements.

“Hug your loved ones real close every time you leave you [sic] home,” Sayoc said in the tweet with Ritchie’s picture and a screenshot of a news story of a dead teenager. Ritchie, who called the tweet a “bad idea,” reported the incident to the company. Twitter, in what appeared to be a boilerplate statement, said it “carefully” reviewed her case but “found that there was no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behavior,” according to a screenshot uploaded by Ritchie.

Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms deleted all of the bomber’s accounts late yesterday.

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