Twitter explains when it will remove abusive tweets by world leaders

FAN Editor

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey addresses students during a town hall at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, India, November 12, 2018. 

Anushree Fadnavis | Reuters

Twitter on Tuesday clarified its stance around abusive tweets by world leaders, laying out a number of “enforceable offenses” that could result in their tweets being removed.

Earlier this year, Twitter said it would begin flagging tweets from influential government officials who violate its rules around bullying and offensive behavior.

The company said it hasn’t had to use this feature yet, but in cases where it does, users won’t be able to like, retweet or share the offending content. Users will still be able to quote-tweet the post to “express their opinion,” Twitter added.

“We want to make it clear today that the accounts of world leaders are not above our policies entirely,” the company wrote in a blog post. “This post seeks to provide clear insight into how we address content from world leaders on Twitter today, and will serve as our statement on the decisions we make, rather than our teams providing feedback on individual Tweets and decisions.”

Among the behaviors that could force Twitter to take action include promoting terrorism, direct threats of violence against an individual, sharing private information or intimate photos, engaging in child sexual exploitation and encouraging or promoting self-harm, the company said.

Twitter announced the new rules in June after it received widespread criticism over failing to take action on tweets from President Donald Trump and other leaders that appear to violate its content policies.

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