Twitter says President Donald Trump did not violate its terms of service when he once again used the service to escalate rhetoric about nuclear arms.
In response to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's New Year address, in which he said he had "a nuclear button" on his desk and threatened to use it against the United States, Trump said Tuesday night that his "nuclear button" is "much bigger" and "more powerful."
Since Trump rode Twitter to the presidency, the social media company has fielded calls to strip Trump of his social-media megaphone. Now there are calls for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey _ who has characterized Trump's use of the platform as "fascinating" and "complicated" _ to quit or be fired if the company doesn't ban Trump.
A Twitter spokeswoman said the company would have no comment on the calls for Dorsey's resignation.
Trump's veiled threat against North Korea is nothing new. In September, he tweeted: "Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!"
Twitter said then that it considered the president's tweet "newsworthy."
This time, the company pointed to rules that state users "may not make specific threats of violence or wish for the serious physical harm, death, or disease of an individual or group of people."
But according to Twitter's ever-evolving and sometimes seemingly contradictory rules, Trump's threat was too vague.
"Please note that wishing or hoping that someone experiences serious physical harm, making vague threats, or threatening less serious forms of physical harm would not fall under (the violent threats policy)," Twitter's rules say. "Instead, we may review and take action against that content under our abusive behavior and hateful conduct policies."
