Daily Beast: “When Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said Trump will be subject to Twitter’s normal rules after he leaves office, Democrats and disinformation experts breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, the era of Trump’s social media impunity will come to an end. According to Dorsey, Twitter’s public interest exception, which lets public officials’ rule-breaking tweets stay up with labels and exempts their accounts from suspension, will lapse the moment he stops being president. So @realDonaldTrump will definitely be just like any other account and liable for lockouts and suspension if it breaks the rules, right?”
“Well, maybe. Those concerned about the soon-to-be former president’s misinformation megaphone poisoning social media with more election conspiracies might not want to celebrate quite yet because Trump’s reported desire to run again in 2024 makes it unclear when his account will lose the shield of that public interest exception… Lest you doubt that Twitter would stick to its guns, there is some precedent for the company booting a candidate once entitled to the public interest exception after their candidacy has ended. Twitter suspended DeAnna Lorraine Tesoriero, a MAGA relationship expert who ran a failed bid to unseat Nancy Pelosi, for her racist tweets last month. Florida conspiracy theorist and far-right activist Laura Loomer managed to get herself banned from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, PayPal and even Uber Eats after a string of racist utterances and bizarre behavior. Loomer, who once chained herself to Twitter’s headquarters in a bid to get her account back, ran a doomed bid for Congress in Florida this year but Twitter nonetheless said it wouldn’t allow the newly anointed GOP candidate to open an account.”