Twitter will not remove politicians' controversial tweets: Here's why
Twitter has long been serving as a place to strike open conversations, discussions, and debates. It's the core function of the microblogging site, but we have also seen cases where abusive behavior mars the health of a conversation on the platform. Twitter often removes tweets associated with this behavior, but now, it's changing its tactic to deal with such situations. Here's how.
Politicians' tweets can be controversial; they should be held accountable
Politicians and government officials with a humongous follower base sometimes make controversial statements violating Twitter's community guidelines. Their remarks can be harmful and pertain to an issue of public concern, which means removing them could prevent the public from holding them accountable for their action. This is why Twitter will now put up a notice/label over these tweets instead of removing them completely.
How Twitter's new technique would work
The company says if a politician or government official, with more than 100,000 followers and having a verified account, tweets something harmful, its team of Trust and Safety, Legal, Public Policy will assess it. They will consider if the remark is of public interest, and if that's the case, they'll hide the post behind a notice/label notifying the public that it is in violation.
Notice will have an option to view the tweet
The notice served by Twitter will have a view button, which will allow the public to check the harmful post and hold the politician, who made the statement on the platform, accountable for their action through open discussion.
Also, Twitter will limit the reach of these tweets
Along with hiding harmful tweets behind a notice, Twitter will limit the reach of such posts to curb hate from spreading on the platform. The company says any tweet featuring this notice will remain on the profile of the sharer but not show in safe search, top tweets timeline, live events page, recommended tweet notifications, the notifications tab, and the Explore page.
Twitter says it's unlikely you'll see this notice often
Twitter has confirmed that its latest tactic of curbing hate on the platform without removing important information won't be applied to tweets shared before June 27. "We cannot predict the first time it will be used," the company said, adding that "given the conditions outlined above, it's unlikely you'll encounter it often". But, will it serve any purpose? We doubt.
