London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Sep 12, 2026

A warning to Trump? Twitter reminds ‘world leaders’ aren’t immune to deplatforming

A warning to Trump? Twitter reminds ‘world leaders’ aren’t immune to deplatforming

Twitter has put US President Donald Trump – and other world leaders – on notice with a clarification of its rules, letting one of the platform’s most popular users know that it can cut off his ability to go viral at any time.
Twitter clarified its rules concerning powerful political leaders in a blog post on Tuesday, never mentioning Trump by name but clearly keeping him in mind. The new guidelines seem uncontroversial enough on the surface, but leave a wide loophole for potential deplatforming of the #Resistance’s favorite punching bag.

While “direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on economic or military issues are generally not in violation of the Twitter Rules” at the moment, they can get a belligerent world leader’s tweets placed in a no-man’s-land where they cannot be replied to, liked, or shared, Twitter warned.

They haven’t had to use the quarantine option yet, but they’re just reminding any tweet-happy world leader who might happen to be reading that it’s possible, and that it could stop their tweet from going viral. Not that they have any particular leader in mind, or anything.

There are some “red lines” which world leaders cannot cross, including “promotion of terrorism,” doxxing, child sexual exploitation, promoting self-harm, and – in perhaps the most obvious dig at Trump – “clear and direct threats of violence against an individual.” Context is key to the latter, Twitter explained, claiming “commentary on political and foreign policy issues would likely not result in enforcement” – but “likely” leaves the door open to the president being deplatformed for his usual belligerent posturing, should Twitter decide his latest tweetstorm doesn’t qualify as political commentary.

Harris had called for the suspension of Trump’s account after the president accused an anonymous CIA whistleblower of spying and House intel committee chief Adam Schiff of “fraud and treason,” claiming the tweets constituted threats because Trump had – offline – commented that the US “used to handle [spies and treason] a little differently than we do now.” Those tweets - plus Trump’s quote of a Fox News claim that removing him from office would cause a “civil war-like fracture” - had “put our democracy in danger,” Harris complained.

Twitter politely demurred to kick one of its most popular users off its platform then, disappointing the president’s many haters. But the new rules leave the door open for a more robust complaint to exile the president from his favorite platform, and Twitter apparently wants to make sure Trump knows it.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese Crypto Entrepreneur Leon Li Identified as Seller of £190 Million London Mansion
Trades Union Congress Proposes Social Energy Tariff Funded by Higher Bank Surcharge
British Chambers of Commerce Calls for State Pension Triple Lock to Be Scrapped
Anthropic Says Claude Helped Disrupt Biological Weapons and Cyber Espionage Threats
UK Imposes Sanctions Over Israeli Settlements and West Bank Violence
UK Reimposes Sectoral Sanctions on Iran’s Aviation, Shipping and Energy Networks
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as AI and Programming Services Lift Activity
UK House of Commons Rejects Assisted Dying Bill by 286 Votes to 270
UK Reviews Nationwide Emergency Alert Tests After Systems Meet Reliability Targets
UK Seeks Faster Rail Links Across Northern Industrial Corridors
British Business Bank Allocates £150 Million for High-Growth Companies in Northern England
BBC Warns Staff Strikes Are Possible Amid Pay Dispute and £500 Million Savings Drive
UK Backs Short Extension of UN Sudan Sanctions Regime
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Defends Early Prison Release Reforms and Growth Strategy
Reform UK Faces Scrutiny Over Alleged Effort to Circumvent Foreign Donation Rules
UK Analysts Warn Tax Rises or Spending Cuts May Be Needed to Preserve Fiscal Headroom
Jaguar Land Rover Plans Up to 4,000 Job Cuts in £1.7 Billion Cost-Saving Drive
UK Chancellor Warns of Difficult October Budget as Borrowing Costs Rise
UK Declares Israeli Occupation of West Bank Unlawful and Expands Sanctions
UK House of Commons Rejects Assisted Dying Bill for England and Wales
English Councils to Gain Power to Introduce Tourist Taxes by 2028
Kemi Badenoch Reshuffles Conservative Shadow Cabinet
Firefighters Make Progress Containing Major Wildfires in South Wales
John Lewis Partnership Reports £124 Million Loss
Study Says UK AI Data Centres Will Create Only a Quarter of Forecast Jobs
UK Government Considers Higher Industrial Water Prices Amid Supply Pressures
Andy Burnham Holds First Call With Donald Trump as UK Prime Minister
NHS Records Busiest Summer on Record as Heatwaves Drive Hospital Admissions
Home Secretary Orders Police Crackdown on Far-Right Anti-Migrant Vigilantes
UK Supreme Court Rules Northern Ireland Religious Education Curriculum Breaches Human Rights Standards
Markets Price in Four Bank of England Rate Rises by Next Summer
House of Commons Prepares Free Vote on Assisted Dying Bill
UK Government Bans Trade With Israeli Settlements in Occupied Territories
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as Artificial Intelligence Investment Supports Expansion
Andy Burnham Becomes UK Prime Minister After Keir Starmer Resigns
John Lewis Partnership Loss Widens to £124 Million
UK Government to Put White Working-Class Social Mobility at Centre of Equality Policy
McLaren Plans £450 Million Technology Investment Creating 1,000 UK Jobs
UK Chancellor Faces Calls for Wealth Taxes and Public Ownership in Autumn Budget
English Mayors to Gain Powers to Impose Uncapped Overnight Tourist Taxes
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Government Against Bank Windfall Taxes
UK Air Traffic Control Outage Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
UK Imposes Trade Ban on Israeli Settlements in the West Bank
UK Borrowing Costs Surge as Middle East Tensions Push Long-Term Gilt Yields to Highest Since 1998
Buckingham Palace Says Prince Harry and Meghan Will Not Resume Official Royal Duties
UK Treasury Faces Calls to Scrap £100,000 Childcare Support Threshold
Trades Union Congress Urges Labour Government to Rewrite Migration Policy
Riot Police Deployed After Anti-Migrant Protests Turn Violent in Portsmouth
UK Considers Replacing Some Disability Cash Payments With Direct Services
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Chancellor Against Higher Banking Taxes
×