Twitter to label tweets by world leaders who violate its rules

Twitter to label tweets by world leaders who break its rules

Twitter has announced that it will label those tweets of major political figures which violated its rules regarding bullying and abusive behaviour.

In a blog post Twitter said the latest function would apply to verified government representatives/ officials and political candidates with over 100,000 followers. The decision to remove a tweet will depend on its potential to cause harm.

“We will only consider applying this notice on Tweets from accounts that meet the following criteria. The account must:

Be or represent a government official, be running for public office, or be considered for a government position (i.e., next in line, awaiting confirmation, named successor to an appointed position);
Have more than 100,000 followers; and
Be verified.

“That said, there are cases, such as direct threats of violence or calls to commit violence against an individual, that are unlikely to be considered in the public interest,” said Twitter in the post.

The affected Tweets will not appear in searches but remain on the site. It will be covered with this message: “The Twitter Rules about abusive behavior apply to this Tweet. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain available.”