Twitter Removes Post Shared by Trump Following Copyright Complaint

Paula Liu
By Paula Liu
July 21, 2020US News
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Twitter Removes Post Shared by Trump Following Copyright Complaint
Men are silhouetted against a video screen with a Twitter logo in the Bosnian town of Zenica, on Aug. 14, 2013. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Twitter has removed a video had been retweeted by President Donald Trump, according to multiple reports.

A spokesperson at Twitter indicated to The Hill that the company had received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice from the holder of the rights, and that according to company’s copyright policy, it responds to “valid copyright complaints sent to us by the copyright owner or their authorized representative.”

The tweet in question was a video that was shared by Dan Scavino, a White House aide. The video depicted excerpts of Trump’s inauguration speech, which was placed over a song by Linkin Park.

Late on July 18, Linkin Park issued a statement on its Twitter page, which addressed this issue, writing, “Linking Park did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music. A cease and desist has been issued.”

The notice has been stored on the Lumen Database, which is a nonprofit independent research project that serves as storage for cease and desist letters regarding online content, and to provide the public with the most transparent information regarding complaints like the one issued against the post, according to the website.

The notice indicated that the copyright violation notice was filed on July 18 by Machine Shop Entertainment, which is founded by the band, according to the notice.

The video, which was posted by Scavino, was shared on July 17 and retweeted the day after by President Donald Trump. Shortly after the complaint, the video was taken down and Twitter replaced it with a notification that said, “this media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”

This is not the first time that the social media company has removed content that has either been shared by President Trump or his campaign, according to The Hill. Since June, Twitter has taken down content linked to either the president’s account or that of his campaign on at least three different occasions due to copyright violations.

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