Twitter Inc defended its decision to allow US President Donald Trump\u2019s controversial tweets to remain on the service, saying that blocking a world leader or removing their tweets \u201cwould hide important information people should be able to see and debate.”<\/p>\n
Selectively excluding certain tweets from such figures \u201cwould also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions,” Twitter said in a blog post Friday.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week Trump tweeted threats of nuclear action in response to North Korea\u2019s taunts, leading to calls for Twitter to ban Trump, claiming that he violates the social media platform\u2019s own terms of service regarding inciting abuse or promoting violence.<\/p>\n
The exchange prompted a protest group in San Francisco, called Resistance SF, to gather outside of Twitter\u2019s headquarters, calling on chief executive office Jack Dorsey to step down or remove Trump from Twitter.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week Brian Fallon, a political commentator and former spokesman for Hillary Clinton, tweeted to Dorsey: \u201cHey @Jack. It\u2019s time to kick Trump off this website.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s tweets that have insulted women and his retweet of an anti-Muslim post have caused repeated uproars among its users. The company has maintained that Trump\u2019s tweets are newsworthy.<\/p>\n
In Friday\u2019s blog post, Twitter said it reviews tweets by leaders within the “political context that defines them, and enforce our rules accordingly.”<\/p>\n
Twitter has also emphasized its use as a place to see what\u2019s happening and that it\u2019s easier for the social media company to deliver on its mission if influential people like Trump start discussions there.<\/p>\n
Last year, Twitter executive chairman Omid Kordestani said that “it\u2019s good to have him talk on Twitter.”<\/p>\n