Not even Trump is safe from being banned for tweets that go too far, Twitter says
- Twitter says it's possible that President Trump could be banned if he exhibits abusive, rule-breaking behavior on the platform.
- Twitter, and specifically CEO Jack Dorsey, has come under fire for its decision to allow figures like Alex Jones and Trump to remain on the platform, even after they've been accused of breaking site rules.
- In the past, the company has made it clear that they intend to let 'world leaders' stay on Twitter in an effort to protect "important information people should be able to see and debate."
- Dorsey is preparing for his testimony before Congress on Wednesday, where he will discuss interference in the 2016 presidential election, and he will probably face questions concerning the accusations against Twitter of silencing conservative voices.
Twitter says not even President Trump is safe from ever being banned on their social media platform.
In an interview with Politico, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and legal and policy chief Vijaya Gadde said it's still possible that Trump could be banned if he exhibits abusive and rule-breaking behavior, leaving the door open for future enforcement.
Twitter has been criticized for its handling of Trump's tweets in the past, but more recently the company has come under fire from both sides - with accusations of "silencing" conservative voices, and for the recent decision to let conspiracy theorist Alex Jones remain on the website following a week-long suspension.
While world leaders are sometimes able to get away with tweets that a regular user would be punished for, Gadde told Politico that this wiggle room "is not a blanket exception for the president or anyone else."
Many of Trumps tweet's have caused people on the platform to call both Twitter and Dorsey out, claiming that Trump had clearly broken some of Twitter's core rules about abusive or toxic behavior.
Twitter has been reluctant to punish world leaders, or even some controversial figures, in the past. The company received criticism for those decisions, which only ramped up after The Wall Street Journal reported that Dorsey personally stepped in and prevented Alex Jones and white nationalist Richard Spencer from being suspended or banned. Both Twitter and Dorsey denied those accusations.
Dorsey is preparing for his upcoming testimonies before Congress on Wednesday, where he'll address both the interference in the 2016 election and the accusations of silencing conservative voices on Twitter.