Twitter just explained why it won't block Trump for tweets that North Korea considers a declaration of war (TWTR)

On Monday, after a Trump tweet threatened that North Korea might not "be around much longer," Twitter was forced to explain why the President was not banned from the service.

In a six-part tweet from Twitter's public policy account, the company said that Twitter takes "newsworthiness" and "public interest" into account when determining whether a user has violated its rules.

Those considerations have long been used internally when decided the fate of a problematic user, Twitter said. The company said it plans to soon update its public-facing policy to better reflect some of those other internal factors.

"We need to do better on this and will," Twitter said.

Trump's tweet came at time of heightened tensions between the US and North Korea, following several missile launches and nuclear tests by the North Korea that have drawn sharp criticism from the international community. On Friday a North Korean official said the country might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.

Trump and North Korean officials have been engaged in a war of words, with North Korea's foreign minister calling Trump "mentally deranged" and Trump referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "Rocket Man."

After Trump's tweet on Saturday, North Korea's foreign minister according to NPR

Just heard Foreign Minister... @ Donald J. Trump

Special Trump rules?

The episode has put Twitter in a difficult position, leading many observers to question how the company's policies against threats and abuse squared with tweets by Trump that some believe risk provoking a nuclear conflict.

Under its existing policy, Twitter reserves the right to remove content and disable accounts that postviolent threats or harassment.

President Trump's tweets have long posed a challenge for Twitter's terms of use policies. Throughout the 2016 presidential election and his presidency, Trump has used the platform to call out individuals and corporations that he opposes, often times using derogatory terms, as well as to introduce new items of public policy.

Read the full response from Twitter's pubic policy group here:

THREAD: Some of you have be... @ Twitter PublicPolicy

We hold all accounts to the... @ Twitter PublicPolicy

Among the considerations is... @ Twitter PublicPolicy

This has long been internal... @ Twitter PublicPolicy

Twitter is committed to tra... @ Twitter PublicPolicy

We#emo#ll continue to be guided... @ Twitter PublicPolicy

Twitter just explained why it won't block Trump for tweets that North Korea considers a declaration of war (TWTR)

Donald Trumps tweets have long raised questions about whether they violate Twitters rules prohibiting abusive behavior on the service.

Special Trump rules?

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