Twitter blocked the phrase “Uncle Tim” from appearing in the platform’s trending section but has not answered whether users who used the derogatory phrase against Sen. Tim Scott will be banned until the tweets are deleted.
“I can confirm that we are blocking the phrase you referenced from appearing in Trends. This is in line with our policies on Trends,” a Twitter spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
“We want Trends to promote healthy conversations on Twitter. This means that at times, we may not allow or may temporarily prevent content from appearing in Trends until more context is available. This includes Trends that violate The Twitter Rules.“
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment if it will ban users who used the derogatory phrase until they delete their tweets.
‘UNCLE TIM’ TRENDS ON TWITTER AS LIBERALS SLAM TIM SCOTT AFTER HE SAYS US ‘IS NOT A RACIST COUNTRY’
The term, which plays off the derogatory phrase “Uncle Tom,” was used by a surge of liberals on the platform Wednesday night to describe Scott and his speech declaring the United States is not a racist country. The tweets remain live as of Thursday afternoon.
“Tim Scott gets called Uncle Tom by progressives. But he’s an Uncle Tim,” former MSNBC host Toure Neblett tweeted, for example.
Tim Scott gets called Uncle Tom by progressives. But he’s an Uncle Tim.
— Young Daddy (@Toure) April 29, 2021
In his speech, Scott said, “Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country,” and spoke in defense of Georgia’s election integrity law, which has been panned by liberals as disenfranchising black voters.
“I’m an African American who has voted in the South all my life,” he added. “I take voting rights personally. Republicans support making it easier to vote and harder to cheat.”
The trending phrase comes after tech companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon removed the app Parler earlier this year for encouraging or inciting violence following the siege of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Google and Apple did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on whether they are considering similar measures for Twitter following “Uncle Tim” trending.
Conservatives, meanwhile, have slammed liberals for using the phrase as well as Twitter for allowing the phrase to trend, including the Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway.
“Twitter is still out here going out of its way to make racist attacks against GOP Sen. Tim Scott go viral. Apparently they want him to suffer for the crime of upstaging Biden via a highly effective speech. Disgusting,” Hemingway tweeted.
Twitter is still out here going out of its way to make racist attacks against GOP Sen. Tim Scott go viral. Apparently they want him to suffer for the crime of upstaging Biden via a highly effective speech. Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/zwXYyowdIX
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) April 29, 2021
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Scott also addressed the phrase on Thursday during a Fox News interview, calling it “upsetting” and “disappointing.”
“It was upsetting, certainly, but it was so disappointing that those people who want to be respected and given the opportunity to live their lives any way they want to, they don’t want the same thing for you and me, Steve. What they want for us is for us to stay in a little, small corner and not go against the tide that they think is America. Their America and my America aren’t the same America, if, in fact, they think that discriminating is the fastest way to end discrimination,” he said.
