Months after banning Donald Trump from his platform, Twitter is still trying to figure out how it should deal with politicians who break its rules. The company says it is “reviewing” its policies for world leaders and other elected officials and wants to hear from its users.
The company will be launching a public survey that will run from March 19 to April 12, to gather feedback on the matter. “We generally want to hear from the public whether or not they believe that world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others on Twitter,” writes the company in a . “And if a world leader breaks a rule, what kind of enforcement action is appropriate.”
The company added that it is also consulting academics and human rights activists on the subject. The feedback from these groups, as well as the public’s responses, “will inform the development of our policy framework”. It is unclear what aspects of its existing policies it plans to reconsider. The company does not name Trump, but makes reference to two of 2019 that explain why the company can apply its rules differently to world leaders.
Twitter is not the only company dealing with these issues after Trump. Facebook is still waiting for a decision by the Supervisory Board on whether or not the former president will be able to return to the platform. The Supervisory Board also plans the broader question of how Facebook handles the accounts of elected officials, although the company implements the board’s recommendations.