Twitter is seeking public opinion on how to handle world leaders’ accounts and what their policies should look like in the coming future. The microblogging platform that has replaced press briefing rooms and has given world leaders a podium to spread information is running a survey to learn whether leaders should be subjected to the same rules as other users. In its recent blog, Twitter said that the survey will run from March 19th to April 12th and said that it wants to know “whether or not [the public] believe[s] world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others on Twitter.” 

Also read: Russia threatens to block Twitter in one month unless it doesn’t delete banned content 

The silicon-valley based microblogging platform in its blog wrote, “Generally, we want to hear from the public on whether or not they believe world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others on Twitter. And, should a world leader violate a rule, what type of enforcement action is appropriate.” The almost month-long survey is currently available in English but in the coming days will be available in Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Urdu. These 14 languages will make sure that Twitter gets a global perspective in the feedback it receives. 

Twitter’s new survey action plan comes at a time where both the company and public are becoming increasingly aware of politicians and government officials using Twitter for good and bad both. While most political leaders and journalists share snippets of breaking news to brief the public, there are those who have been spreading misinformation about the pandemic.  

Case in point, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro had two tweets removed in 2020 in which he endorsed hydroxychloroquine and called an end to social-distancing. Nicolás Maduro, President of Venezuela had his tweet deleted by the platform when he posted a misleading antidote to COVID-19. The company came into the news again when it suspended former US President Donald Trump’s twitter account for allegedly inciting violence during the Capitol Siege 

These incidents make the platform a pandora’s box and Twitter in its blogpost commented on the same. “We want our policies to remain relevant to the ever-changing nature of political discourse on Twitter and protect the health of the public conversation. That’s why we’re reviewing our approach to world leaders and seeking your input,” wrote the company. 

In the survey, the platform asks participants what action the platform should take when political leaders or candidates share misinformation regarding elections. Another question asks what the platform should do if a high-ranking leader from another country makes claims about untested COVID-19 cures to their users’ country. From hate speech to threats of violence, each situation in the survey also adds whether it’s the world leader’s first rule violation or repeated offence.   

Twitter Survey

 It should be noted that it’s not just public opinion that Twitter is going to take under consideration. The platform will also be approaching human rights experts, academics experts and civil society organization from all over the world.  

If you want to weigh in with your perspective, click here and do your part.   

The company in an October, 2019 blog had touched briefly on our desire for decisions to be in simple ‘yes/no’ binaries, but said it recognizes that it’s not that simple. “The actions we take and policies we develop will set precedent around online speech and we owe it to the people we serve to be deliberate and considered in what we do,” wrote Twitter in its blog. 

The company had maintained that it would only block or remove tweets of world leaders, however it took the drastic step of permanently removing Donald Trump’s account citing that the tweets violated some of its guidelines.  

In the October 2019 blogpost, the company had already laid its suspension guidelines. The company also claimed that they would be forced to take action for “any” account without consideration of public interest value. These were the rules laid by the company: 

  • Promotion of terrorism; 
  • Clear and direct threats of violence against an individual (context matters: as noted above, direct interactions with fellow public figures and/or commentary on political and foreign policy issues would likely not result in enforcement); 
  • Posting private information, such as a home address or non-public personal phone number;
  • Posting or sharing intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent;
  • Engaging in behaviors relating to child sexual exploitation; and 
  • Encouraging or promoting self-harm.