In a series of tweets on its public policy account, Twitter announced that it would not be removing President Donald Trump’s tweet from Saturday regarding North Korea that seemed to only increase the tension between the United States and North Korea, ABC News reports.
After overhearing a conversation between North Korean officials at the United Nation, according to The Washington Post, Trump tweeted, “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!”
Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
North Korea responded to Trump’s statement on Monday, calling the tweet from the president a declaration of war, ABC reports. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the North Koreans’ allegations that the tweet was a declaration of war “absurd.”
Twitters users, according to The Washington Post, pointed out to the social media company that Trump’s tweet violated Twitter’s policy which prohibits users from “mak[ing] threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism.”
Please everyone, report this Trump tweet to twitter. It violates rules about physical threats. Click triangle on the Trump tweet-top right
— BotVigilante (@Bot_Vigilante) September 24, 2017
Twitter ultimately decided not to remove the president’s tweet, citing its “newsworthiness,” adding that the company is “committed to transparency and keeping people informed about what’s happening in the world,” ABC News reports. The social media website has cited in the past that it is important to hear from leadership so Americans can hold them accountable.
“This has long been internal policy and we’ll soon update our public-facing rules to reflect it,” one of Twitter’s public policy account’s tweets read. “We need to do better on this, and will.”
This has long been internal policy and we’ll soon update our public-facing rules to reflect it. We need to do better on this, and will 4/6
— Twitter PublicPolicy (@Policy) September 25, 2017
This, however, is not the first time that Twitter users have called from Trump’s tweets to be removed, or for his account to be suspended. According to The Washington Post, actor and former White House aide, Kal Penn, pushed for Twitter to take stronger actions against Trump, particularly for his comment to North Korea that the U.S. military was “locked and loaded.”