Twitter won't remove Trump's tweets about a conspiracy involving Joe Scarborough's aide, but claims it will update policies, after letter from the aide's widow
This is the third act in a long-running enforcement standoff between Twitter and Donald Trump. The company built its escape hatch back in 2017, when it said it would weigh the 'newsworthiness' of rule-violating tweets after Trump's North Korea threats (the newsworthiness policy update), and it has since applied its tools selectively — hiding a tweet reportedly from Iran's head of state in 2019 while leaving world leaders' posts otherwise untouched.
Now, under direct pressure from the widow of Joe Scarborough's late aide, Twitter is declining to remove Trump's tweets promoting a baseless conspiracy theory, while again promising a policy update rather than an enforcement action. The stakes are sharpened by Bloomberg's later reporting that Trump's special treatment around offensive or misleading content was set to lapse in January if he lost the presidency (the expiration of his special treatment), making each refusal a test of whether the carve-out survives contact with a specific victim.
First-order effects
The widow and Scarborough get no removal despite a personal appeal — their only recourse inside Twitter's system is the promised-but-undated policy update, not action on these tweets.
Second-order effects
Trump gains confirmation that the newsworthiness carve-out holds even against grieving private individuals, while critics can point to Twitter's DMCA takedown of a Trump tweet at the New York Times' request (the NYT copyright complaint) as proof that enforcement happens readily for rights-holders but not for defamation targets.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds — carve-out for the powerful, quiet enforcement for everyone else, with the exception tied to holding office — platform speech rules harden into a two-tier system whose boundaries are set case by case, inviting legislative pressure on how platforms treat political accounts.
The trend: Platform moderation of heads of state is drifting from stated rules to ad hoc exceptions, where 'newsworthiness' functions as a standing waiver for sitting leaders until they leave office.
A blow to her head? Body found under his desk? Left Congress suddenly? Big topic of discussion in Florida...and, he's a Nut Job (with bad ratings). Keep digging, use forensic geniuses! https://twitter.com/...
Twitter statement re: Trump's tweets about Lori Klausutis: “We are deeply sorry about the pain these statements... are causing the family.” Changes are in the works to “expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward…
The opening of a Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough was not a Donald Trump original thought, this has been going on for years, long before I joined the chorus. In 2016 when Joe & his wacky future ex-wife, Mika, would endlessly interview me, I would always be thinking....
30K retweets for this discredited tale, based on a three-year old post from some wing-ding website. This is why even his critics should want DJT to play a lot of golf, because when he does, he's not tweeting crap like this. https://twitter.com/...
Timothy Klausutis, the widower of Lori Klausutis, has written to Jack Dorsey asking him to delete tweets by President Trump spreading a debunked conspiracy theory about his late wife's death and @JoeNBC His letter is heartbreaking @karaswisher reports https://www.nytimes.com/... …
“The president of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him — the memory of my dead wife — and perverted it for perceived political gain.” https://twitter.com/...
Twitter has a “world leaders” policy that makes the president effectively immune to violating policies that would get average users suspended. https://twitter.com/...
Yet again the president uses the death of Lori Klausutis, 28, to attack Joe Scarborough. In 2001 she fainted, hitting her head. An autopsy revealed a heart condition. There's no cold case. It's a tragedy he cruelly exploits. Indecent. https://apnews.com/... https://twitter.com/..…
“I would also ask that you consider Lori's niece and two nephews who will eventually come across this filth in the future. They have never met their Aunt and it pains me to think they would ever have to about her this way. My wife deserves better.”
“I'm asking you to intervene in this instance because the President of the United States has taken something that does not belong him — the memory of my dead wife and perverted it for perceived political gain.”
In 2001, a staffer for @JoeNBC named Lori Klausutis tragically passed away. She had an abnormal heart rhythm and collapsed, striking her head. She left behind a husband and relatives. It is truly vile that the President spreads conspiracy theories about her death. https://twitter…
1. Her name was Lori Klausutis and she died of natural causes ( https://apnews.com/...). It's not a cold case 2. Klausutis's widower is demanding Trump stop exploiting his dead ex-wife and urged Twitter to take down these tweets ( https://www.nytimes.com/...) 3. Trump is a monste…
“I am asking you to intervene in this instance because the President of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him — the memory of my dead wife — and perverted it for perceived political gain.” https://twitter.com/...
I don't even think getting rid of his tweets would be all that effective...it would set off a massive firestorm and add fuel to his persecution narrative. And he'd prob just go to Facebook fully. It's all debatable. But! I do object to Twitter's cowardice.
Here's why they won't do it. And that's honestly fine, if it were to align with Twitter's supposed values. But Twitter wants it both ways - to seem like they care about the 2nd order effects of the tweets, while also not taking responsibility. https://twitter.com/...
Whatever your feelings on Twitter deleting Trump's tweets or banning him, this is an *extremely tortured and vague* corporate statement that means virtually nothing to the general public except to say, we're not going to do anything but we would like you to know we disapprove htt…
Deeply sorry = thoughts/prayers, @TwitterComms. If @Twitter exempts Trump's account from @policy on election integrity, harassment, abuse, & COVID19, it should start adding a layer to the tweets, now. @karaswisher suggests @Jack should delete these tweets: https://www.nytimes.com…
A family is fearful of becoming the target of online conspiracies and harassment because the president decided to use their daughter and sister's death to attack a TV host he doesn't like. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
“The President of the United States has taken something that does not belong him — the memory of my dead wife and perverted it for perceived political gain. My wife deserves better.” ~TJ Klausutis to @Jack https://www.nytimes.com/...
.@jack Please delete those tweets - NYT/Kara Swisher- “taking the original ones (tweets) down would send a strong message that this behavior is not tolerated.” https://twitter.com/...
Let's be honest — Trump's not going to change his bilious huffing and puffing on Twitter and we have ample evidence of that. But Twitter can and in a way that works for his victims like the late Lori Klausutis and her grieving family. It's called decency. https://www.nytimes.com/…