Trump tweets could be restricted after Twitter moves against abusive posts by high-profile politicians

'A step in the right direction,' expert in far-right propaganda says

Donald Trump tweets could soon be restricted after Twitter announced it would slap warning labels on posts by politicians it deems violate the rules.

The new policy, announced by the company on Thursday, will affect world leaders and other political figures who use the platform to threaten or abuse others.

It comes amid accusations Twitter has unfairly allowed the US president to tweet hateful messages other users would be censured for, and which critics say could lead to violence.

From now on, a tweet that Twitter deems to involve matters of public interest, but which violates the service's rules, will be obscured by a warning explaining the violation.

Users will have to tap through the warning to see the underlying message, but the tweet will not be removed, as Twitter might do with a regular person's posts.

Mr Trump, who has tweeted more than 42,000 times since he joined the platform 10 years ago, will likely view any restrictions as an escalation of what he wrongly claims is censorship on social media of conservative voices. There is no evidence to support the conspiracy theory.

Twitter said the policy applies to all government officials, candidates and similar public figures with more than 100,000 followers. In addition to applying the label, Twitter will not use its algorithms to "elevate" or otherwise promote such tweets.

"It's a step in the right direction," said Keegan Hankes, research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, who focuses on far-right extremist propaganda online.

But, he added, Twitter is essentially arguing "that hate speech can be in the public interest. I am arguing that hate speech is never in the public interest".

Twitter refused to comment on whether any of Mr Trump's past tweets violated its rules and would not say what role, if any, his Twitter activity played in the creation of the new warning-label policy.

Twitter's rules prohibit threatening violence against a person or group, engaging in "targeted harassment of someone", or inciting others to do so, such as wishing a person is harmed. It also bans hate speech against a group based on race, ethnicity, gender or other categories.

Up to now, the company has exempted prominent leaders from many of those rules, contending that publishing controversial tweets from politicians helps hold them accountable and encourages discussion.

But there have been longstanding calls to remove Mr Trump from the service over what some have called abusive and threatening behaviour.

Some activists complained this week after the president threatened Iran with "obliteration" in some areas if it attacks the US. Mr Trump has also tweeted a video of himself beating up a man with a CNN logo in place of his head and retweeted seemingly faked anti-Muslim videos.

"Donald Trump has changed political discourse on Twitter and everywhere else, given the level of toxic statements he has made about vulnerable communities in America," Mr Hankes said.

Other politicians could likewise become subject to warning labels.

In 2018, French prosecutors filed preliminary charges against far-right French politician Marine Le Pen for tweeting brutal images of Isis violence. Twitter prohibits material that is "excessively gory".

And in March, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro stirred outrage by sharing a video on Twitter of a man urinating on the head of another man during a Carnival party.

Insults and mockery fall into a grey area. Calling someone a "lowlife, a "dog" or a "stone cold LOSER", as Mr Trump has done, may not in itself be a violation. But repeated insults against someone might amount to prohibited harassment.

Jennifer Grygiel, a social media expert and professor at Syracuse University, said Twitter "obviously" enacted the new policy because of Mr Trump's Twitter activity.

But Ms Grygiel said the new rule failed to go far enough. Because of the president's outsize ability to start wars, move stock markets or influence other world events, Twitter should instead review leaders' tweets before they are sent out and block them if necessary, Ms Grygiel said.

Twitter's new policy does not apply to past tweets.

Twitter said it is still possible for a government official or other figure to tweet something so egregious that it warrants removal. A direct threat of violence against an individual, for instance, would qualify.

The company said warning-label decisions will be made by a group that includes members of its trust and safety, legal and public policy teams, as well as employees in the regions where particular tweets originate.

Additional reporting by AP