Twitter have posted a blog explaining their reasons for not banning US President Donald Trump from the site.
Since taking his position in office, Trump has used his personal Twitter account to attack individuals, vilify the ‘fake news media’ and push his far-right agenda. More recently, he bragged about the size of his ‘nuclear button’, in a move that’s been seen as potentially damaging to the safety and security of the country.
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018
I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018
Now, Twitter has offered an explanation as to why Trump has not been removed from the site – under the guise of general rules on “elected world leaders” – despite the US President seeming to break several of its terms of use.
“Elected world leaders play a critical role in that conversation because of their outsized impact on our society,” the post reads. “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,” they write.
“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.”
Donald Trump’s Twitter account briefly disappeared last year, after it was temporarily deactivated by a Twitter employee on his last day at work.
Shortly before 4PM Pacific time on November 2 (11PM GMT), anyone hoping to access Trump’s Twitter page was greeted with the unexpected message ‘Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!’
Despite widespread hope that the disappearance could be a permanent move, the increasingly bizarre tweets of America’s Commander in Chief reappeared only 11 minutes later.