ISLAMABAD – With the prevalence of social media, finding the right balancebetween free speech and sharing right about anything for seeking attentionhas been next to impossible. Recently, Twitter found itself stuck in asimilar whirlpool.
Many government officials take to Twitter to either make unofficialannouncements or to broadcast their thoughts. Some of them i.e. PresidentDonald Trump, use the platform for war threats and other allegations.
Over the last few years, users are questioning why Twitter does not takedown these tweets? Twitter had mum lips about the situation but sinceTwitter’s shares dropped a whole 1.4 percent, the company decided to takeaction against such profiles.
In a new blog post, Twitter has explained the new rules and urged thepoliticians and government officials to avoid allegations of political biasor their tweet will be marked.Who will be Scrutinized?
Twitter has decided to attach special labels to tweets from major politicalfigures if their content violates the site’s rules.
Since deleting them is not in public interest, according to the company.Anyhow the accounts fulfilling the following criteria will be kept underobservation at all times.
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1. The account belongs to a government official, individual running for a public office or an induvial being considered for a government position. 2. The account has more than 1 lac followers. 3. The account is verified.
Twitter said, “the Twitter Rules about abusive behavior apply to thisTweet. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’sinterest in the Tweet to remain available.”
This new policy is basically Twitter’s efforts to balance an ideologicalcommitment to free expression and user’s demand to remove disturbing,violent and harassing tweets.
