Twitter has said Donald Trump’s tweet attacking North Korea do not break its rules despite potentially constituting threatening behaviour. The social networking site denied that it gives the President of the United States special leniency, saying that his tweets are allowed because they are “newsworthy” and “in the public interest”.
Twitter had not previously responded to calls for Trump’s account to be deleted, saying it does not comment on individual accounts. But the President’s violent rhetoric on North Korea, which the country called a “declaration of war” on Monday, put new pressure on the company.
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Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
On Sunday, Trump had said that North Korea “won’t be around much longer” if it repeated threats to detonate a bomb over the Pacific, which prompted the country’s foreign minister to say Trump had declared war.
In a statement, Twitter said: “We hold all accounts to the same rules, and consider a number of factors when assessing whether tweets violate our rules. Among the considerations is ‘newsworthiness’ and whether a tweet is of public interest.
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“This has long been internal policy and we’ll soon update our public-facing rules to reflect it. We need to do better on this, and will.
THREAD: Some of you have been asking why we haven't taken down the Tweet mentioned here: https://t.co/CecwG0qHmq 1/6
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) September 25, 2017
We hold all accounts to the same Rules, and consider a number of factors when assessing whether Tweets violate our Rules 2/6
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) September 25, 2017
Among the considerations is "newsworthiness" and whether a Tweet is of public interest 3/6
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) September 25, 2017
Also Read : “US may have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea”: Donald Trump
“Twitter is committed to transparency and keeping people informed about what’s happening in the world. We’ll continue to be guided by these fundamental principles.”
Tensions have been rising between Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told the UN General Assembly over the weekend targeting the US mainland with its rockets was inevitable after Mr Trump called the North Korean leader a “rocket man on a suicide mission”.