Social media giant Twitter has announced that they will be implementing updates to their terms of service. The announcement was made following an incendiary tweet made by Donald Trump toward the country of North Korea. More specifically, Twitter is now set to consider newsworthiness alongside other criteria in helping to determine whether or not to permit speech on their website.
The tweet sent by Trump was considered by North Korea’s foreign minister to be a “declaration of war,” leading many to wonder whether or not threats of violence were enough to get Trump suspended from Twitter on account of the fact that threatening violence is something that gets many others suspended from Twitter if they happen to do that.
It’s also no secret that Trump has used his official Twitter page to post statements that have been seen as bullying toward others, including many public figures such as Hillary Clinton, Adam Schiff, and even the late Elijah Cummings. Additionally, Trump has also used the platform to post multiple statements that have since been proven to be untrue as well.
These types of questions have been raised ever since Trump’s still-questionable 2016 victory; more specifically regarding whether his Twitter use should be curbed. Many are worried that Twitter enables Trump too much of a platform to be able to speak off the cuff; however, many others have expressed concern regarding tech companies being able to censor speech from others.
This has led people to feel that with Twitter essentially deciding what is and isn’t newsworthy, they will more or less be making editorial decisions, essentially turning themselves into more of a media company. Recent studies have shown that approximately two-thirds of Americans get some of their news from various social media platforms, with Twitter counting for at least 75% of that.
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