Twitter Won’t Take Action Against Donald Trump for North Korea Tweets
Over the weekend, many were alarmed to see President Trump's tweets about North Korea, seemingly threatening the nation and its leader. And while Twitter users were quick to report the president's tweets, it seems that nothing will be done by the social media platform.
According to the Huffington Post, Twitter's admin refuses to suspend Trump's account or scrape one of his recent tweets threatening North Korea because they deem it "newsworthy" and "of public interest."
One user, however, pointed out that Trump actually violated Twitter's guidelines by uttering threats and should have his account suspended. Twitter refused to initially comment, telling BuzzFeed they treat each case with privacy. Users were quick to point out the biased nature of a policy like that, since no public figure requires more transparency than the president. After some prodding, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey promised to "do better."
Too little, too late? Whether his threat was valid or not is irrelevant at this point. North Korea has accepted the statement as a declaration of war.
North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters in New York, according to the Huffington Post: “Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country. “The question of who won’t be around much longer will be answered then.”
The problem with free speech is that very few people know what the First Amendment protects before it becomes hate speech or a crime. Obscenity, defamation, and true threats are all punishable by law. It shouldn't be our responsibility to parse through the president's Twitter account to decipher which declarations of war are a hoax or not.
We have to look at Twitter as a microcosm of the real world. Sure, we get our information instantly, but it sets a terrible precedent for future presidential communications and an awful example for younger generations of what we thought America was once supposed to look like. Plus, it sends the message that hateful subtweets are OK — whether you're in a position of power or part of the general public.
It seems as though the leader of the free world is getting a pass to make sure journalists have enough to write about. Don't worry about us, Twitter — we'll be fine.
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