Fox News Twitter account on ‘silent protest’ over response to Tucker Carlson threats
The official Fox News account on Twitter has been silent for days, reportedly in protest at the platform’s slow response to content which the network says put host Tucker Carlson’s family in danger last week.
The most recent post on the account is dated last Thursday, November 8 - the day after activists from the radical left-wing Antifa movement showed up at Carlson’s Washington, DC home calling the host a “racist scumbag” and chanting that “we know where you sleep at night.”
Fox News has chosen to stay silent on the platform because it objects to the way Twitter has handled posts targeting Carlson, “specifically the ones that included his address,” according to Tribune Media content manager Scott Gustin.
The @FoxNews Twitter account has been silent for over 24 hours. A Fox News employee tells me Fox is choosing to stay silent while protesting how Twitter handled posts targeting Tucker Carlson — specifically the ones that included his address. address.
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) November 10, 2018
In a follow-up tweet, Gustin said his source at Fox News explained that while Facebook was “prompt” in responding to the network’s concerns, Twitter’s support team reportedly told them to ‘open a ticket’ and wait instead of immediately removing the posts.
According to source, Facebook was prompt when alerted to posts that included his home address. Twitter support reportedly told Fox to "open a ticket" and did not remove the posts.
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) November 10, 2018
Gustin said his source informed him that the decision to protest on Twitter came “from the highest level” of the network and that the Fox News account “will remain silent until Twitter removes the tweets and apologizes for mishandling the situation.”
Fox News has made no public announcement about the decision, but on Sunday, Business Insider reported that it had obtained an internal email from Fox News Managing Editor Greg Wilson telling employees to “refrain from tweeting out our content from either section accounts or your own accounts until further notice."
The Fox Business Network has also not tweeted since November 9.
Washington's Metropolitan Police Department said last week it was treating the protest at Carlson’s home as a “suspected hate crime,” since they believe he was targeted for his political beliefs. Police also said that the Antifa protesters had vandalized the Fox host’s property, including by spray-painting an anarchy symbol in the driveway.
Despite making no official comment about the Twitter protest, Fox News had previously come to the defense of its employee, with CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace releasing a joint statement calling the Antifa protesters’ behavior at Carlson’s home “reprehensible” and arguing that Americans have become “far too intolerant of different points of view.”
“Recent events across our country clearly highlight the need for a more civil, respectful, and inclusive national conversation. Those of us in the media and in politics bear a special obligation to all Americans to find common ground,” the statement read.
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