Twitter won't take down a doctored image of an Australian soldier with a knife to a child's throat.
According to reports, Twitter has instead decided to place a "sensitive media" label on the tweet that has started a new war of words between China and New Zealand's trans-Tasman partner. It was shared by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.
"The image contained within the Tweet in question has been marked as sensitive media. For more information on these policies and how to control your individual media settings on Twitter, see here," Twitter told the New York Post.
The image, which is digitally altered, has been called "repugnant" by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who demanded an apology from China and called for Twitter to take the image down.
New Zealand is now involved, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirming on Tuesday morning that Aoteaora had raised concerns about the image directly with China, our largest trading partner.
The image comes after the release of a report in November alleging that Australian forces unlawfully killed 39 Afghans over a period of years. The report makes mention of a 2016 document where a sociologist claims to have heard that two 14-year-old boys were killed by soldiers. ABC says those allegations were "never substantiated".
Asked about Morrison's Monday comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying didn't apologise, instead pointing to the "shocking and appalling" details in the Australian Defence Force report.
"The Australian side has been reacting so strongly to my colleague's tweet. Why is that? Do they think that their merciless killing of Afghan civilians is justified but the condemnation of such ruthless brutality is not? Afghan lives matter!"
