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Donald Trump could lose more than just the presidency this January. Twitter has confirmed that if Trump leaves office, he will no longer receive special treatment as a “newsworthy individual.”
Twitter’s newsworthiness policy protects certain individuals, such as elected officials with more than 250,000 followers, from having their accounts suspended or banned for rule violations that would otherwise lead to severe penalties.
That policy is what has led the company to silence, but not eliminate, at least 12 tweets from the president of the United States during the past week that cast doubt on the democratic process.
But, Twitter has confirmed, the policy does not apply to former elected officials. They must follow the same rules as everyone else, and if a tweet breaks those rules, it is removed. If Trump continued to break Twitter’s rules regularly after his presidency, his account could be suspended.
“Twitter outreach to world leaders, candidates and public officials it is based on the principle that people should be able to choose to see what their leaders are saying in a clear context, “a spokesperson told The Guardian. “This means that we can apply warnings and labels, and limit participation to certain Tweets. This policy framework applies to current world leaders and candidates for public office, and not to private citizens when they no longer hold these positions.
That will give Trump a choice once he leaves office: tone down the rhetoric or face the possibility of having his hugely influential supporters removed from him.
Meanwhile, lawmakers and human rights groups have renewed calls to suspend the president’s account even before a possible transition of power in January.
On Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia asked on Twitter in a tweet to “suspend your account.”
“This is pure misinformation. Valid votes are being counted. This is America, not Russia, ”he said in response to Trump’s tweets that included unfounded suggestions of electoral fraud.
David Cicilline, a Democrat and representative from Rhode Island, also asked Twitter to suspend Trump’s account for “posting lies and misinformation at an impressive rate.” Cicilline is the chair of the House of Representatives antitrust subcommittee and has taken to Twitter with direct questions in recent hearings.
On Thursday, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under the Law and the watchdog group Common Cause sent a joint letter to Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, requesting that Trump’s account be temporarily suspended to prevent the dissemination of information. wrong about the elections.
“We fear that in the absence of action by Twitter, the president may be successful in his goal of delegitimizing the integrity of our democratic processes for many, and not just for Twitter users, but for other voters and members of the public. , sowing uncertainty about the voting and election process, and potentially inciting violence against public officials or others, ”the groups wrote.
A Twitter spokesperson said the company received the letter and “intends to respond.”
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