On January 2nd, President Trump sent out a Tweet attacking North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un, who claimed the day before that the US is within reach of North Korea's nuclear missiles and he has a nuclear button on his desk always ready to attack the US.
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/948355557022420992The Tweet reads: "North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'nuclear button is on his desk at all times'. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!"
While past Tweets have been the source of outrage, confusion, and sometimes humor, this is the first Tweet in several months that has led to thousands calling for Twitter to ban, or at the very least suspend, the president's account. They claim the Tweet, which sounds reminiscent of two first-graders arguing on the playground about who has the better toy or who could beat up who, threatens national security and could provoke an international conflict by taunting an unstable and unpredictable world leader who may or may not have access to nuclear weapons.It is hardly the sort of behavior people would hope for from the president of a relatively powerful nation and Twitter has become an enabler of not only foolish behavior, but now potentially dangerous behavior.
Though this Tweet, along with past several past Tweets, could be seen as violations of https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-rulesTwitter's user rules, they have once again refused to ban or suspend the account. But this time, they have given a reason.
In a blog post published a few days later, https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/company/2017/world-leaders-and-twitter.htmlTwitter said "Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate. It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions."
The post does not mention Trump by name, but it is very easy to deduce it was written with the president in mind. That is a great stance and all, except that Trump's Tweets have almost no merit based in fact and aren't worthy of being debated. In the words of http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/02/politics/donald-trump-north-korea-nuclear/index.htmlCongressman Jim Himes on CNN, "We have gotten to a place, a very weird place, where it really doesn't matter what the President of the United States says anymore because it is so bizarre, strange, not true, infantile."
There is no discussion to be had about the vast majority of Trump's Tweets, as Twitter believes. They are nonsensical and childish, but also increasingly alarming and dangerous because of where they come from. Twitter may possibly have business concerns at play and be using the reasoning in the blog post as a cover, but concerns about angering the president and his followers by a ban or suspension is hardly better than the reasons they have officially provided.
Banning his account would certainly not silence the President, but it would remove a platform where he can write whatever he wants at any hour he wants for the whole world to see and save without any checks from advisers. While most of his Tweets are moronic yet harmless, Trump showed that he is more than willing to taunt world leaders with strong military capabilities. This is a huge threat to diplomacy as it comes from the President of the United States. Several people have pointed out that Trump will simply find new avenues to spew whatever strain of words he pulls together, but is that enough to justify allowing him to continue using Twitter to bully other politicians and world leaders? Do we stop punishing children just because we know they will find other ways to misbehave?
What do you think? Have Trump's Tweets moved to a point that they are serious enough to warrant a ban or suspension? Should world leaders get an exemption from Twitter's guidelines and user policy?
