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

The social media company takes newsworthiness and public interest into account when deciding to remove content.

Donald Trump's tweets have long raised questions about whether they violate Twitter's rules prohibiting abusive behavior on the service.

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 argued that Trump's speech was newsworthy and of "public interest," but said that it was planning to update its policy soon.

"We need to do better on this and will," Twitter said, without explaining what exactly it believed needed improvement.

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 told reporters that the country considers Trump's tweet to be a declaration of war, and that his country can thus legally shoot down US military planes, according to NPR.

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

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

The company has left up Trump's tweet about North Korea because of its "newsworthiness" and "public interest value" — two factors which are taken into account for all content considered otherwise in violation of the company's content policy.

In response to criticism about its inconsistency, Twitter said that it would update its public-facing policy to better reflect what has long been an internal policy.

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

The social media company takes newsworthiness and public interest into account when deciding to remove content. Read Full Story