SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter Inc on Friday reiterated its stance that accounts belonging to world leaders have special status on the social media network, pushing back against users who have called on the company to banish U.S. President Donald Trump.

FILE PHOTO: The masthead of U.S. President Donald Trump's @realDonaldTrump Twitter account is seen on July 11, 2017. @realDonaldTrump/Handout/File Photo via REUTERS

“Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate,” Twitter said in a post on a corporate blog.

Twitter had already said in September that “newsworthiness” and whether a tweet is “of public interest” are among the factors it considers before removing an account or a tweet.

The debate over Trump’s tweeting, though, raged anew after Trump said from his @realDonaldTrump account on Tuesday that he had a “much bigger” and “more powerful” nuclear button than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Critics said that tweet and Trump’s continued presence on the network endanger the world and violate Twitter’s ban on threats of violence. Some users protested at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters on Wednesday.

Twitter responded in its blog post that even if it did block a world leader, doing so would not silence that leader.

The company said that it does review tweets by world leaders and enforces its rules accordingly, leaving open the possibility that it could take down some material posted by them.

“No one person’s account drives Twitter’s growth, or influences these decisions,” the company added. “We work hard to remain unbiased with the public interest in mind.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Twitter’s statement.

Some Twitter users expressed support for the company’s decision, while others complained of a double standard.

“If I tweeted half of what Trump has since he entered office, I’d be permanently banned from this platform,” a Twitter user wrote from the account @michaelranaii.</s>
• Some people say Twitter should suspend President Donald Trump's account after a controversial tweet earlier this week seemed to threaten nuclear action against North Korea.
• Twitter explained in a blog post on Friday why it hadn't suspended Trump's account, saying people "should be able to see and debate" his tweets.
• Twitter also disputed the notion that it hadn't taken action against Trump because his tweets are good for the company's bottom line.



 On Friday, Twitter published a short blog post explaining why it won't be suspending President Donald Trump's personal account, though it did not mention him by name.

"Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate," the post said. "It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions."

A provocative tweet on Tuesday night from Trump that some perceived as threatening nuclear action against North Korea reignited the debate over whether Twitter should suspend or take other action against the president's account.

At the time, Twitter said the tweet did not violate its terms of service.

People protesting outside Twitter's San Francisco headquarters earlier this week urged CEO Jack Dorsey to suspend Trump's account, calling Dorsey "complicit" for not doing so.

"We review Tweets by leaders within the political context that defines them, and enforce our rules accordingly," Twitter's blog post says.

Basically: You might not agree with Trump's tweets, but since they are the from the US president, the rules are a little bit different from those for other users.

Also of note is that the blog post disputes a long-running criticism that Twitter allows Trump to continue using the platform even after perceived violations of its terms because the response to his tweets drives people to use the service.

"No one person's account drives Twitter's growth, or influences these decisions," the post says.

The post is attributed not to any Twitter executive or employee, but to "Twitter, Inc."

This is the first official response from Twitter on its policy regarding Trump and other world leaders. Last year, however, Dorsey explained his reasoning for allowing Trump to keep using the social network.

"I think it's really important that we maintain open channels to our leaders, whether we like what they're saying or not, because I don't know of another way to hold them accountable," Dorsey told Backchannel in April. "Anytime we have any leader tweet, including Trump, there's a very interesting and thriving conversation. A mixture of fact checking, disagreement, agreement, and some random things."

"There's been a lot of discussion about political figures and world leaders on Twitter, and we want to share our stance.

"Twitter is here to serve and help advance the global, public conversation. Elected world leaders play a critical role in that conversation because of their outsized impact on our society.

"Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets, would hide important information people should be able to see and debate. It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions.

"We review Tweets by leaders within the political context that defines them, and enforce our rules accordingly. No one person's account drives Twitter's growth, or influences these decisions. We work hard to remain unbiased with the public interest in mind.

"We are working to make Twitter the best place to see and freely discuss everything that matters. We believe that's the best way to help our society make progress."</s>Washington: Twitter has announced it would not block the accounts of world leaders even if their statements are "controversial," citing a need to promote a "public conversation" on political issues.

The announcement came just days after a tweet from President Donald Trump hinting at the use of US nuclear weapons sparked criticism that the social network was allowing threats of violence.

"Twitter is here to serve and help advance the global, public conversation. Elected world leaders play a critical role in that conversation because of their outsized impact on our society," the California-based company said in a blog post.

"Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate. It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions."

Twitter made no specific reference to Trump or his tweet this week saying he has a "nuclear button" which is "bigger and more powerful" than that of North Korea's.

Some activists said Twitter should have banned Trump and one group projected images on the company's headquarters with a message "@jack is #complicit," a reference to chief executive Jack Dorsey and "Ban @realDonaldTrump."

The group called Resistance SF accused Dorsey of "endangering the world" and violating its own rules by not banning Trump.

Friday's announcement comes less than a month after Twitter began enforcing new rules aimed at filtering out "hateful" and "abusive" content on the social network, including messages which promote or glorify violence.

Twitter, which has struggled to maintain an open platform without allowing violence or hate speech, said at the time it would not cut off accounts for military or government entities.

The statement left open the possibility however that Twitter could remove specific tweets from political leaders which violate its policies.

"We review tweets by leaders within the political context that defines them, and enforce our rules accordingly," the statement said.

"No one person's account drives Twitter's growth, or influences these decisions. We work hard to remain unbiased with the public interest in mind."</s>SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc on Friday reiterated its stance that accounts belonging to world leaders have special status on the social media network, pushing back against users who have called on the company to banish U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate,” Twitter said in a post on a corporate blog. (Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)</s>Let’s face it—Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, is a classic Twitter troll. The Troll in Chief, if you will. He routinely uses the platform to lash out at his critics, he peddles fake news and conspiracy theories, and he has repeatedly threatened to start a nuclear war with North Korea. But does all of this bad behavior mean Twitter should ban him from using the network? No, and there are several good reasons why.

Calls to ban Trump have been around for some time, based on the idea that his routine harassment of other users represents a breach of Twitter’s code of conduct. But the pressure on Twitter to take action has ramped up recently, driven in part by tweets like the one Trump posted Tuesday, in which he belittled North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un and bragged about the size of his “nuclear button.”

Leaving aside the fact there is no nuclear button on the desk in the Oval Office, a number of commentators argued that this tweet was beyond the pale, and that Twitter should take action not just for the sake of other Twitter users but for the safety of the US as a whole. A scientist working with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (which runs the Doomsday Clock) called Trump’s tweets about North Korea “an existential threat to humanity.”

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Writing in The Atlantic, meanwhile, Conor Friedersdorf said that Trump’s tweet was “the most irresponsible tweet in history,” and called for the platform to block not just the president but all world leaders. Twitter “encourages impulsive hostility,” Friedersdorf argued (which is arguably true), and the results of such behavior are “potentially catastrophic.”

Twitter, for its part, said in a blog post published on Friday that “blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate. It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions.”

Twitter is one of the primary news-delivery mechanisms of the 21st century, and the comments made there by the president of the United States are by definition newsworthy. After all, according to both former White House press secretary Sean Spicer and the Department of Justice, his tweets are are considered official statements from the president.

Apart from their news value, Trump’s tweets also provide something else, and that is a real-time look inside the mind and psyche of the president of the United States. It may be a dark place, and looking into it repeatedly may be soul-destroying and depressing for a number of reasons, but it is still arguably valuable to have those thoughts out in public where we can see them.

“We learn an enormous amount about his mindset from his tweets,” CNN media reporter Brian Stelter said in an interview with CJR earlier this year. “It’s a raw, shocking use of media by a president, like he’s hosting a late-night talk show—picking fights, getting even with enemies.”

Banning Trump would also be an example of the kind of censorship that Twitter and Facebook arguably already do too much of. It’s true that the First Amendment doesn’t apply to private corporations like Twitter, which are allowed to regulate their content in any way they wish. But the idea that we should ban people from using dominant social platforms simply because we don’t like what they say is still problematic.

This all leads to the third point, which is that blocking Trump from Twitter would be a big, fat present to the alt-right and conservative movements in the US, and to any of his supporters, because it would give them even more ammunition to argue that left-wing social media platforms are out to get conservative voices and remove their content whenever possible.

Are there risks in having the president tweet whatever pops into his mind? Of course. The idea that he could tweet his way into a nuclear war with North Korea seems like a bit of a stretch, but he can certainly complicate negotiations with all sorts of countries (and probably has), move the share prices of public companies, and target people for criticism unnecessarily.

Another risk is the media will pay too much attention to specific tweets by Trump, some of which could be designed to distract or shift attention away from more important issues, like the investigation into ties between his campaign and Russian government operatives. For a press corps that is desperate to generate traffic and revenue by any means possible, Trump’s Twitter pronouncements can be like manna from heaven.

These are all valid points to make when criticizing the president’s tweets and/or the media’s response. But that doesn’t mean the president should be removed from Twitter completely—and doing so could have far more negative consequences than it would positive ones.

ICYMI: Not the best look for The New York Times</s>(WCMH) — Twitter released a statement Friday after many have asked the social network to block the account of President Trump or delete his controversial tweets.

There’s been a lot of discussion about political figures and world leaders on Twitter, and we want to share our stance.

Twitter is here to serve and help advance the global, public conversation. Elected world leaders play a critical role in that conversation because of their outsized impact on our society.

Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets, would hide important information people should be able to see and debate. It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions.

We review Tweets by leaders within the political context that defines them, and enforce our rules accordingly. No one person’s account drives Twitter’s growth, or influences these decisions. We work hard to remain unbiased with the public interest in mind.

We are working to make Twitter the best place to see and freely discuss everything that matters. We believe that’s the best way to help our society make progress.</s>Twitter has said it has no intention of baning world leaders, following calls to throw Donald Trump off the social network.

The platform has faced criticism following tweets by the US President which seemingly threaten nuclear strikes against North Korea.

Activists have lobbied Twitter to remove Trump's account, and the words 'Be a Hero: Ban Trump' were projected on the company's headquarters this week.

And Twitter chief Jack Dorsey has been accused of 'amplifying a madman and endangering the world'.

The network has resisted calls to silence the President, saying his words do not violate its rules.

It follows a tweet in which Trump declared that his red button was bigger than North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's.

In a statement, Twitter chiefs said: "There’s been a lot of discussion about political figures and world leaders on Twitter, and we want to share our stance.

"Twitter is here to serve and help advance the global, public conversation. Elected world leaders play a critical role in that conversation because of their outsized impact on our society."

It continued: "Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets, would hide important information people should be able to see and debate.

"It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions.

"We review Tweets by leaders within the political context that defines them, and enforce our rules accordingly. No one person's account drives Twitter’s growth, or influences these decisions. We work hard to remain unbiased with the public interest in mind.

"We are working to make Twitter the best place to see and freely discuss everything that matters. We believe that’s the best way to help our society make progress."

Action group Resistance SF, which held a protest outside Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, accused Twitter of giving Trump a 'megaphone' to threaten war.

In a Facebook post it said: Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, needs to stand up and do the right thing. The employees of Twitter need to stand up and do the right thing."

Last week Trump wrote on Twitter: "I use Social Media not because I like to, but because it is the only way to fight a VERY dishonest and unfair “press,” now often referred to as Fake News Media."</s>SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter on Friday answered calls to block President Trump from its platform for inciting violence. The answer was "No."

In its corporate blog, the company (TWTR) did not name Trump, but said "blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate."

The statement — an echo of comments its CEO Jack Dorsey has made — follows this week's increasingly bellicose back-and-forth between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and mounting calls from protesters to remove Trump for violating the service's ban on inciting violence.

It began with a speech Kim gave on Monday saying he had a button ready to launch nuclear weapons installed in his desk.

The next day Trump tweeted that he, too, has a nuclear button, "but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!"

Critics feared the president's tweet was bringing the world close to nuclear war, while people across the globe worried the taunts the two leaders were trading could all too easily develop into actual military hostilities between countries that both boast nuclear arsenals.

A flood of messages began on social media Tuesday calling for Twitter to block Trump's tweets, with many saying they had reported Trump for violating Twitter's terms of service — the same route a person would take if someone were using Twitter to harass or threaten them personally.

On Wednesday, a group called Resistance SF held a protest outside of Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco. The group used lights to display a large message on the side, writing “Be a hero: Ban Trump,” "Would Twitter ban Hitler?" and “Trump or @jack must go” a call for Dorsey to step down.

"While you would love nothing more than to see a Twitter ToS Violation for handle: @realDonaldTrump, you and all of your liberal friends have NOTHING. Keep calling TwitterStop trying to be the NEWS. Just report the NEWS & try keeping it REAL!" the White House Director of Social Media, Dan Scarino Jr., wrote on Twitter.

The argument made by those who would block the president is that his statements can be construed as condoning nuclear war against North Korea, and are therefore threats against the people of that nation.

As Twitter made clear on Friday, although its Terms of Service say threatening people online can be seen as abusive and grounds for removal, when a world leader tweets, it is by definition newsworthy and therefore protected.

In its posting, Twitter also seemed to address speculation that it wouldn't block the president because his unprecedented popularity on the platform was crucial for its financial stability. "No one person's account drives Twitter’s growth, or influences these decisions," Twitter said.

Trump's tweets, both before and after taking office, have spurred much discussion.

Those who like him love the unfettered access his tweets grant to his thoughts and laud his straightforward statements and bracing method of phrasing them — so very different from the cautious, statesman-like utterances of previous presidents.

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“There’s a legitimate debate over whether he is advancing U.S. geopolitical aims by doing what he’s doing,” said Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist and former special assistant to President George W. Bush.

Still, he said, “we have to ask whether it’s good for a democracy such as our to allow a corporation to censor our president.”

Those who dislike him are appalled at what they term his impulsive, sometimes juvenile Twitter rants and retweets they say have given a tacit show of approval to hate groups.

Twitter's Friday statement about world leaders on its platform makes clear that in the context of political figures, the newsworthiness of their public statements is paramount.

Blocking them "would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions," it said.

Twitter has the legal right to block anyone it might choose to because the First Amendment is about the power of the government to abridge freedom of speech, not corporations.

Under the Constitution, while the government can’t stop someone from speaking, Twitter is well within its rights to do whatever it wants with its platform, said William Bennett Turner, a lawyer, First Amendment expert and professor at the University of California Berkeley. Even some who dislike his statements believe the remarkably uninhibited chance Twitter gives the public of to know the mind of the president is healthy for democracy.

“There are no words to express my loathing for this president, and what he says in his daily tweets is beyond the pale for me,” Turner said. “However, while you may hate what he thinks, at least you know what he thinks.”</s>In recent days, more Twitter users than ecver have been calling to censor the Twitter account of President Donald Trump.

The fresh wave of insistence comes after the POTUS posted a tweet directed at North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un.

In the tweet, the US President compared the size of his nuclear power button to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s after the leader of North Korea stated in a New Year’s Day speech that he has a nuclear detonator button on his desk.

Trump chose to retaliate and remind the ‘food starved regime’ that he too has a ‘big and powerful’ button.

Twitter has responded to the criticism by saying that it will not silence the voices of world leaders.

'Elected world leaders play a critical role in that conversation because of their outsized impact on our society,' reads a post on Twitter's blog.

'Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate.'

'It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions.'</s>Days after President Donald Trump sparked outrage with a tweet claiming his nuclear “button” is “bigger & more powerful” than that of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the social network has made an announcement relating to the president’s future access to the site.

Twitter released a statement Friday in which it emphasized the “critical role” played by “elected world leaders” in the conversation on Twitter due to the “outsized impact” they have on society.

Though Twitter did not mention Trump or any other leader by name, the social network indicated that blocking world leaders on its site would actually do more harm than good by effectively stopping vital discussions from taking place.

“Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate,” the company wrote. “It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions.”

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Twitter did say that it would take a look at specific tweets “within the political context that defines them,” then make decisions about enforcing its rules of conduct based on that.

Many saw the company’s statement as a response to the criticism levied at Trump following his controversial nuclear button tweet.

“North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times,'” the president tweeted Tuesday. “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”

Many Democrats took issue with the post, arguing that it is not a good strategy to provoke Kim’s regime.

“A nuclear conflict on the Korean Peninsula would be a catastrophe, leading to the deaths of potentially millions of people, including American servicemembers and families stationed there,” Sen. Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts said in a statement, according to The Washington Post.

“We cannot let this war of words result in an actual war,” he added.

Markey’s sentiments were echoed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who called the president’s Twitter outbursts “a very poor representation of the United States.”

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“President Trump’s foreign-policy-by-tweet is doing serious damage to the country,” Schumer said this week on the Senate floor. “Where we have serious issues to address abroad, President Trump seems happy with macho boasts and belligerent threats that get us nowhere.”

Criticism for Trump’s Twitter habits is nothing new, but in a tweet late last month, the president explained why he actually uses the social media network.

“I use Social Media not because I like to, but because it is the only way to fight a VERY dishonest and unfair ‘press,’ now often referred to as Fake News Media,” the president tweeted.

“Phony and non-existent “sources” are being used more often than ever. Many stories & reports a pure fiction!”

Twitter has come to the president’s defense before.

In November, CEO Jack Dorsey said Trump’s account would not be suspended because his tweets are “newsworthy,” according to Fortune.

“If an account were to publicly attack or harass a private citizen, we would take action,” Dorsey said. “We do have a clause in our terms of service that we unfortunately did not have publicly stated …around newsworthiness and public interest.”

As noted by The New York Times, Twitter’s latest statement looked to push buck on claims that “controversial figures” such as Trump are only allowed to keep their accounts because it benefits the social media network.

“We are working to make Twitter the best place to see and freely discuss everything that matters,” Twitter concluded. “We believe that’s the best way to help our society make progress.”
Twitter, in response to criticism over its handling of U.S. President Donald Trump's account, says it will not block world leaders or remove their controversial tweets.