A US comedian and actor, whose Twitter handle also has the blue tick, is putting Elon Musk's control of Twitter and its moderation practices to the test by using Donald Trump as bait.
Tim Heidecker started the hashtag #TrumpIsDead on Twitter and in a series of tweets regarding former US President, Heidecker tweeted "Trump is dead (died badly) and said that Musk "suppressed this news (or has he?)". The tech billionaire was also tagged in the tweets.
"Many are sad by the news," Heidecker added. "I heard he died in a sad and sick way (not as a dog, but this reporting could change soon)."
Here's what we know:
1. Trump is dead (died badly)
2. @elonmusk has suppressed this news (or has he?)
3. Donald Trump Junior is now just plain Donald Trumpplease like and share.
— Tim Heidecker: Sole Host of On Cinema (@timheidecker) November 1, 2022
Within an hour, Heidecker's tweets had garnered more than 20,000 likes, thousands of retweets and #TrumpIsDead began to trend on Twitter, Business Insider reported. By Wednesday afternoon, the tweet had received more than 57,000 likes and close to 10,000 retweets.
Big story pic.twitter.com/HOLW00BkOX— Tim Heidecker: Sole Host of On Cinema (@timheidecker) November 1, 2022
Twitter users, however, soon realised the joke and hopped onto the bandwagon with Donald Trump memes of their own.
Big news today! Huge thanks to @timheidecker for breaking this massive story. #TrumpIsDead pic.twitter.com/ga0i0cbE2x— rich dunkis (@drstevieduke) November 1, 2022
#TrumpIsDead he finally made American great again!It must be true because Elon Musk says it's okay to say anything on twitter. pic.twitter.com/0ZJvLYAFZV
— Justice (@UnionRebelMs) November 2, 2022
He died in a racing accident. Tragic. #TrumpIsDead pic.twitter.com/XdpLo3moF7— Zlatan Negrohimovic™️ (@Hydr0kix) November 2, 2022
Today in Nature magazine - Recently discovered strain of inedible corn named in honour of deceased president.#TrumpIsDead pic.twitter.com/BqwPgnj0pZ
— Craig (@craig3352) November 2, 2022
#TrumpIsDead Oh no! It's BIGLY true! pic.twitter.com/SZ3iX2XLSc— Charles Hawtrey (@CharlesXHawtrey) November 2, 2022
While Elon Musk is yet to respond to the tweets, moderation, misinformation, and hate speech have become an issue under his leadership.
As a possible acknowledgement to that, the tech billionaire even changed his Twitter bio on Monday from "Chief Twit" to "Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator".
But Heidecker's tweets could prove a notable trial for Musk and his ally Twitter's head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth who had asserted that the micro-blogging site's rules were "still being enforced at scale" amid the transition.
Read more: Elon Musk says Twitter board 'deliberately' hid this evidence from court
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