On Thursday, the fourth and final night of the Republican National Convention, a “Trump 2024” banner “Promoted by Team Trump” appeared above the feed on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
While the #Trump2024 hashtag temporarily displayed the American flag, clicking on it produced an animated “hashfetti” effect of flags raining down, it was the icon accompanying the #1 trending topic #MAGA that caught our eye.
It showed a low-resolution version of a now-famous photo showing Trump being held up with a raised fist by Secret Service agents following an assassination attempt on his campaign trail last weekend. However, that photo taken from that angle looks like Associated Press and its photographer Evan Vucci.
Asking questions about hashflag, Associated Press Lauren Easton, vice president of communications, responded that “this was not an authorized use of our photo” and that the photo was “for editorial use only.”
respond to inquiries edge, someone responded from the X press email account without attaching their name, calling hashmoji and “hashfetti” animations “a commercial product.” According to a post on the X Business Blog, the animated effect has been used by more than 30 brands since it first appeared in a Louis Vuitton ad campaign last year.
The account did not respond to questions about whether the AP had licensed its images for this use or confirmed the purchaser of the commercial product.
