As multiple Twitter users queried the company on why Donald Trump’s account hasn’t been banned yet, Twitter suggested it’s because he’s newsworthy and his tweets are of public interest.
Donald Trump’s Twitter account, both before he became President and after, has been mired in controversy, with many tweets that have resulted in accusations of various kinds of misconduct or discrimination.
What was an interesting first, however, was the tumult created after Donald Trump, from his @realDonaldTrump account and not the official @POTUS account, tweeted possible threats of war against North Korea, which the country’s foreign minister Ri Yong Ho has suggested are an explicit declaration of war.
Some users have taken this as a violent threat, and suggested Trump’s account be banned for violating Twitter’s terms of service, which prevent such a proclamation. In response, Twitter has issued the following statement on why Trump’s account may not be banned, or why the tweet at least has not been removed:
What is perhaps of most interest in the response is not a denial that Trump’s tweet may be seen as a threat but rather that he is an exception due to his current standing in the world and the need for users to remain informed of current affairs via the platform, regardless of whether a particular Tweet may infringe on some of the rules as a result.
Source: Twitter via Gizmodo
