Why Twitter did not block Trump after 'nuclear button' threat

Twitter is not blocking US President Donald Trump for his "nuclear button" tweet that stormed the social media, and many thought raised prospect of nuclear war with North Korea.

Trump declared that his nuclear button was "much bigger" and "more powerful" than North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's after the latter threatened the US about Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities.

"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'nuclear button is on his desk at all times.' Will someone from his depleted and food-starved regime please inform him that I too have a nuclear button, but it is a much bigger and more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

 

A number of users reported the tweet to Twitter, with the expectation that threatening a war one is capable of starting should violate Twitter's revised "Terms of Service", given the company's recent crackdown on violent threats, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday.

In December, Twitter began enforcing new rules around violent and hateful content posted to its platform to reduce the amount of online abuse, hate speech, violent threats, and harassment associated with its service.

"You may not make specific threats of violence or wish for the serious physical harm, death, or disease of an individual or group of people," as per Twitter's rule about violent threats.

But in response to Trump's threat on Twitter, the company said that it reviewed the case and "found that there was no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behaviour."

Twitter pointed out that tweets can sometimes appear to be abusive when viewed in isolation, but not when they are seen as part of a larger conversation taking place.

Moreover, Twitter's rules do not apply to whatever Trump posts because of who he is and the "newsworthiness" of his statements. This, combined with another exception Twitter recently carved out for governments and military, allows Twitter to wash its hands of the matter, TechCrunch said.

--IANS

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