SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter on Thursday said it would begin labeling tweets from national political figures, including President Trump, that the company could otherwise have taken down for breaking its rules, a move that could appease some longtime critics at the cost of opening a new political rift with the White House.
The new policy applies to political candidates and government officials who have more than 100,000 followers, Twitter said, and will be used in rare occasions. Before users can view tweets that the company has flagged as a violation of its guidelines, they will need to click on a screen that says: “The Twitter Rules about abusive behavior apply to this Tweet. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain available.”
Twitter said it would also de-prioritize the labeled tweets in the company’s algorithms and search bar so that they would circulate to fewer people. The company has set up a special team tasked with enforcing the new policy and they will determine whether to use the label based on a number of its existing rules.