Twitter says Trump’s tweets are newsworthy, which may explain why his account hasn’t been suspended

by Dramelin 7:30 PM 0 comments

Over the weekend, Trump tweeted a message about North Korea and dictator Kim Jong-un that included a thinly veiled threat.
Threats are against Twitter`s user guidelines, which forbid tweets that include "threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism.
" "Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.
"If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won`t be around much longer!" North Korea took the "won`t be around much longer" part of the tweet as a threat, claiming on Monday that Trump`s post was a "clear declaration of war.
" Some wondered on Monday why Twitter hadn`t removed the tweet — violating the company`s rules usually means the tweet is removed and the account is suspended.
In a somewhat confusing post on Monday, the company shed some light on why the tweet was allowed to stay up.
Twitter`s explanation: Because it was newsworthy.
"We hold all accounts to the same Rules, and consider a number of factors when assessing whether Tweets violate our Rules," the company wrote in a post.
"Among the considerations is `newsworthiness` and whether a Tweet is of public interest.
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.
" A company spokesperson clarified to Recode that Twitter`s post was not confirming that Trump`s tweet violated its rules.
Just that "newsworthiness" is one factor that is used internally to determine whether or not to take something down.
This won`t sit well with a lot of people.
Trump routinely walks the line when it comes to Twitter`s abuse and safety rules, and given that newsworthiness is a consideration in how to respond, it`s tough to imagine a scenario in which he might cross the line.
As the president, everything he tweets is newsworthy.
Twitter has never acknowledged publicly that Trump has violated any of its guidelines — it rarely even acknowledges Trump`s tweets.
Back in July, for example, Twitter`s VP of Trust and Safety, when asked about Trump, told a group of reporters that, "The rules are the rules, we enforce them the same way for everybody.
" CEO Jack Dorsey has long defended Trump`s tweeting.
"I believe it`s really important to have these conversations out in the open, rather than have them behind closed doors," he said in May.
—By Kurt Wagner, Re/code.
CNBC`s parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Recode`s parent Vox, and the companies have a content-sharing arrangement.