Twitter has announced new rules governing how they will now treat world leaders’ accounts, making clear that certain content will result in “enforcement action,” according to a Tuesday press release.
“There continues to be meaningful public conversation about how we think about Tweets from world leaders on our service. We welcome the conversation and want to share more context on our principles and process for reviewing reported Tweets from these accounts,” reads the statement.
That said, world leaders are still to be afforded far greater leeway than the general population, as they state ” the accounts of world leaders are not above our policies entirely.”
For example, the following areas “will result in enforcement action for any account on our service” regardless of who it is:
- Promotion of terrorism;
- Clear and direct threats of violence against an individual (context matters: as noted above, direct interactions with fellow public figures and/or commentary on political and foreign policy issues would likely not result in enforcement);
- Posting private information, such as a home address or non-public personal phone number;
- Posting or sharing intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent;
- Engaging in behaviors relating to child sexual exploitation; and
- Encouraging or promoting self-harm.
Twitter says that in other cases involving world leaders, they will err on the side of leaving content up if there is a “clear public interest in doing so.” – READ MORE