Donald Trump on Tuesday stoked fears of escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea, casually tweeting that his “Nuclear Button” is bigger than Kim Jong-un’s.
The tweet sparked outrage on Twitter, with users pointing out that bragging about the size of your nuclear arsenal isn’t really the most thoughtful approach to foreign policy. Enterprising users even took their concerns directly to Twitter support, reporting Trump’s post for violating the social media site’s terms of service.
Twitter has previously declined to suspend Trump’s account, calling the president’s incendiary rhetoric “newsworthy.”
“If an account were to publicly attack or harass a private citizen, we would take action,” CEO Jack Dorsey told the New York Times in November. “We do have a clause in our terms of service that we unfortunately did not have publicly stated…around newsworthiness and public interest.”
But that hasn’t stopped some online vigilantes from pressing the company to hold Trump responsible for his words and actions.
@TrueFactsStated I reported Trump to Twitter for treatening with violence both me and somebody else. This must stop before we all get killed— Heini Kettunen (@Heini Kettunen) 1514942239.0
@HoarseWisperer @Twitter @TwitterSupport I reported Trump's dangerous tweet. I hope thousands of people report it.… https://t.co/VEM3vxEBWg— Catherine 🌊🐕🌼🌺 (@Catherine 🌊🐕🌼🌺) 1514942130.0
I just reported this #tweet to @Twitter for inciting violence by threatening harm to others. You should too.… https://t.co/ARsGh2saMD— Bay bae (@Bay bae) 1514941545.0
PLEASE report this tweet as harmful/abusive, and violates Twitter rules! #Trump #KimJongUn #NuclearThreat… https://t.co/EgaCHVBjYd— Cathy Fielding (@Cathy Fielding) 1514942326.0
@RepSwalwell @realDonaldTrump @HouseGOP Trump is presenting a clear and imminent danger to our country and the worl… https://t.co/Kylckgyl6t— cal (@cal) 1514942171.0
Serious question: How many people need to report Trump's tweets before @Twitter intervenes?— BEC (@BEC) 1514942806.0
@realDonaldTrump I JUST REPORT YOUR THREATS TO TWITTER TRUMP. YOU MUST FOLLOW THE RULES JUST LIKE ALL OF US SOCIAL… https://t.co/tcWUmDhyeN— BishopUnleashed (@BishopUnleashed) 1514942792.0
@realDonaldTrump Y'all do know y'all can REPORT TRUMP' S TWITTER ACCOUNT BECAUSE IT SPEAKS OF THREATS AND HATE.— BishopUnleashed (@BishopUnleashed) 1514942031.0