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Comment by ken

5 years ago

> If Twitter is going to police people, it needs to be across the board.

That assumes that all users on Twitter are equal. By Twitter's own rules [1], there are two classes of users. Elected officials are held to a different standard. That's why this tweet is hidden behind a click, rather than removed. That's why Trump hasn't been banned despite repeatedly violating the TOS that he agreed to when he signed up for his account.

It makes sense to me that if elected officials (a tiny fraction of the population who already have a much bigger voice than the common citizen) are allowed to break the plebeian rules, then social media platforms should be more willing to point out when they're doing so.

[1]: https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/public-intere...

To be fair, in regard's to Trump's Twitter account, a Federal judge has already ruled that Twitter absolutely may not remove his account, and likewise, he may not block people who insult his spray tan, because it's a de facto public forum for interacting with the POTUS.

  • > ruled that Twitter absolutely may not remove his account

    I just skimmed through that ruling, and couldn't find this. Could you cite where she ruled that twitter couldn't remove his account?

    • In the part where it was declared a de facto public forum for interacting with the POTUS. It is implied that Twitter would face consequences for violating the rights of the population to redress grievances directly with their elected leader in the forum, in this case, it being a Twitter account. The US National Archives also weighed in and said they would sanction Twitter if the account is removed before the end of his Presidency.

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