Twitter Seeks Users’ Input on How to Handle Content From World Leaders

Twitter kicked off a public survey Friday aimed at learning how its users believe it should craft its approach to treatment of world leaders. The social network said the questionnaire will be available in the coming days in 14 languages—Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Urdu—and it will close on Monday, April 12 at 5 p.m. PST. Then-President Donald Trump sent a tweet in January 2018, taunting North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un and reminding him that the U.S. possesses a “nuclear button.” Twitter allowed that tweet to stand, saying that blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their tweets would prevent people from seeing important information In June 2019, Twitter began placing a notice on top of tweets in cases where it believed it was in the public interest to enable people to access them, even though they would otherwise run afoul of its rules, and users had to click or tap through that notice before accessing those tweets. Twitter clarified its approach to content from world leaders in October 2019, saying that while yes-or-no binaries represent the ideal situation, these issues are often far more complex, and every decision it makes starts with enabling people to participate in the public conversation. The social network added that while in most cases, it would err on the side of allowing tweets to remain if there was a clear public interest value, violations of the following by anyone, including world leaders, would trigger enforcement actions: promotion of terrorism; clear and direct threats of violence against an individual; sharing someone’s private information; sharing intimate photos of someone without their consent; any behavior related to child sexual exploitation; and any content encouraging or promoting self-harm. This was the case when Trump was permanently banned from Twitter in January for his role in using the platform to incite the rioters at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6. Twitter said in a blog post Thursday, “Politicians and government officials are constantly evolving how they use our service, and we want our policies to remain relevant to the ever-changing nature of political discourse on Twitter and protect the health of the public conversation. That’s why we’re reviewing our approach to world leaders and seeking your input. Generally, we want to hear from the public on whether or not they believe world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others on Twitter. And, should a world leader violate a rule, what type of enforcement action is appropriate.” The social network added that it is consulting with “a range of” academics, civil society organizations and human rights experts, and their feedback will be reflected in whatever policy revisions it implements.

Politics

Twitter Seeks Users’ Input on How to Handle Content From World Leaders

A questionnaire in 14 languages will be available through April 12

David Cohen

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David Cohen