Twitter Removes Image Post by Trump Over NYT Copyright Complaint

Australian PM Walks Middle Path on Post-Virus Support

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned against creating a dependency on COVID-19 support measures as economists urge the government to continue welfare schemes. The Grattan Institute has recommended the government spend between $70 billion and $90 billion on extra economic stimulus measures. The International Monetary Fund is calling for a gradual exit from support programs, with public investment to accelerate the recovery. Morrison says economists vary across the spending spectrum. “They want us to spend nothing and they want us to spend everything – the truth is going to be somewhere in the middle,” he said on July 2. He said the government would not let dependence on support stop businesses, and the federal budget, from bouncing back. “That will cost jobs and livelihoods,” Morrison said. “The other thing is,…

Twitter Inc has taken down an image tweeted by President Donald Trump from its platform, after receiving a copyright complaint from the New York Times.

The original tweet by Trump issued on June 30, showed a meme that read “In reality they’re not after me they’re after you I’m just in the way” with Trump’s picture in the background.

The background picture was taken by a New York Times photographer, to accompany a feature article on then presidential candidate Trump in September 2015.

Twitter now displays the message “This image has been removed in response to a report from the copyright holder,” in place of the tweet.

Twitter Removes Image Post by Trump Over NYT Copyright Complaint

The move by the social media site is the latest instance of content posted by Trump being flagged or removed, due to what Twitter says are copyright complaints, violation of its policy on threatening violence, among others.

Twitter removed the image after it received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint from the New York Times, which owns the rights to the photo, according to a notice posted on the Lumen Database.

The database collects and analyzes legal complaints and requests for the removal of online materials.

Twitter began challenging Trump’s tweets in May and has repeatedly clashed with him since then. The president has threatened to change laws on social media after Twitter labeled one of his tweets about postal voting inaccurate and hid a tweet about looting, which Twitter said fomented violence.

A campaign tribute video to George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody, was also disabled by Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram on their platforms last month, due to copyright complaints.

Twitter and NYT did not respond when reached by Reuters for further comment.

By Bhargav Acharya

Focus News: Twitter Removes Image Post by Trump Over NYT Copyright Complaint

Australia’s Trade Surplus Rose 2Pct in May

Australia’s trade surplus rose 2.0 percent to $8.03 billion in May, as imports fell faster than exports. Exports dropped 4.0 percent to $35.7 billion, while imports dropped 6.0 percent to $27.7 billion, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on July 2. Imports of consumption goods was steeply lower, down 14 percent to $8.9 billion. Exports of rural goods fell 10 percent to $3.6 million, driven by a 31 percent drop in cereal grains and cereal preparations. Coal export earnings dropped by 13.3 percent, or $635 million. “Australia’s international trade surplus has – on balance – been boosted by the net impacts of the pandemic,” Westpac economist Andrew Hanlan said in a note. “Imports are trending lower as domestic demand contracts. Goods exports, while not immune from the global…