US House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul called on Twitter’s administration to reconsider the Iranian regime’s use of the platform to send threatening messages to US public officials.
He sent a letter to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, expressing his concern over the matter, citing a threat to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
McCaul also highlighted how these posts violate Twitter’s abusive behavior policy and asked for Twitter’s official position on threats to US officials.
“On June 17, 2022, a Twitter account identified as belonging to Zainab Soleimani tweeted that former Secretary Pompeo should ‘Live in Fear.’ The text was accompanied by a picture of former Secretary Pompeo in a cage, with the previous quote written in what resembles blood,” the letter read.
The account and tweet remain public, he said, adding that another tweet posted on June 19 from an account affiliated with the Iranian regime stated that Pompeo should “live in fear.”
The tweet also included a picture of Pompeo with a firearm scope trained on his head, McCaul wrote, noting that the tweet was deleted, but the account is currently public.
He underlined Twitter’s abusive behavior policy, which states that direct threats against an identifiable target, such as Pompeo, are completely out of bounds.
“Users who violate such rules should be permanently banned under your company’s zero-tolerance policy.”
McCaul called on Agrawal to confirm that the mentioned content will be deleted, and that the relevant users will be permanently suspended from the platform.
He asked Agrawal to convey in writing to members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee his official rationale for inaction if he chooses not to take these steps.
