Twitter reckons Trump's Nork-baiting tweet was 'newsworthy'

Guess triggering World War 3 is also 'of public interest'

Twitter has defended its position of potentially providing a platform for triggering World War 3, describing President Donald Trump's infamous North Korea tweet as "newsworthy".

It follows Trump's tweet on Sunday in which he appeared to directly threaten North Korea with annihilation.

He wrote: "Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!"

That prompted a flurry of complaints by users that the tweet violated the platform's terms, which forbid violent threats, and ought to be removed.

In a statement posted as a thread on its @Policy page, directly referring to the tweet, Twitter said: "We hold all accounts to the same Rules, and consider a number of factors when assessing whether Tweets violate our Rules.

"Among the considerations is 'newsworthiness' and whether a Tweet is of public interest.

"This has long been internal policy and we'll soon update our public-facing rules to reflect it. We need to do better on this, and will.

"Twitter is committed to transparency and keeping people informed about what's happening in the world. We'll continue to be guided by these fundamental principles."

Trump has been increasingly squaring up to the North Korean despot, recently describing him as "little rocket man". In response, Kim Jong Un called Trump a mentally deranged US dotard.

It'll no doubt feel especially "newsworthy" when we're picking through a radioactive rubble in a post-apocalyptic hellscape, while fighting off deformed survivors trying to steal our shoes. ®