Twitter Says Why It Won't Ban Trump And Other World Leaders

When it comes to people who repeatedly break Twitter rules, few are as notable as President Trump himself, who was once briefly (and kinda-sorta accidentally) suspended from the service for a few minutes. Trump is known for his boisterous, sometimes irate, often reckless, tweets; many have called for Twitter to ban him, but the service has so far refused. Until now, it has mostly stayed quiet on its reasons for letting Trump's account remain.

Ask a random person why Twitter allows Trump to continue using its service and you'll probably get a response like Twitter needs him too much to suspend him or Twitter doesn't make certain people follow its rules. According to Twitter itself, though, neither those or other claims are the actual reason.

In a recent statement, Twitter — which avoided ever mentioning Trump specifically — said it allows "world leaders" to remain live on its service because suspending them or getting rid of some of their tweets "would hide important information people should be able to see and debate." The company went on to say:

It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions. We review Tweets by leaders within the political context that defines them, and enforce our rules accordingly. No one person's account drives Twitter's growth, or influences these decisions. We work hard to remain unbiased with the public interest in mind.

Controversy over Trump's account and Twitter's decision to let it remain has grown considerably following Trump's recent tweet regarding his "much bigger" nuclear button in reference to North Korea. The tweet — foolish, reckless, and not at all surprising — has many people directing blame at Twitter for allowing these tweets to remain. Many critics have continued to criticize Twitter and its new lackluster explanation.

SOURCE: Twitter