New Twitter Policy Could Affect Trump and Other World Leaders' Tweets

One of Donald Trump’s key forms of communicating with the public, even before his Presidency, has been his Twitter account. But new rules Twitter has unveiled regarding world leaders could have an impact on Trump’s Twitter use.

Under the rule change, Twitter will begin labeling tweets by government officials who break the platforms content rules. Tweets will have a notice covering the original tweets that lets the readers know if it violated the platform’s policies. The tweet will still be viewable, but users will have to click through the notice to read it.

However, Twitter also explained that if a tweet violates the policy in a manner that it would not be in the “public interest” to leave it up, they will require said user to remove it.

The announcement was made in a blog post as a means to address criticisms over political figures, such as Trump, possibly violating Twitter’s content policies with their tweets with no action being taken. It also serves as a way to avoid appearing bias, which has been a concern of Twitter execs when it comes to these types of criticisms.

“Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate,” Twitter wrote in a 2018 blog post. “It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions.”

Twitter has assured that it will be diligent in how the notice is used and it shouldn’t be seen that often.