San Francisco (AFP)

Twitter knew that "hell was going to be unleashed" on the platform as soon as it pinned "deceptive" messages from Donald Trump, and it is not over, because the two enemies seem determined to fight it out via tweets and legal battles.

And Twitter still has ammunition.

The American president struck a blow Thursday by signing a decree aiming to limit the judicial protection of social networks in order to "defend freedom of expression".

But "Twitter shows a renewed desire to apply its rules," said Daniel Kreiss, a professor at the University of North Carolina, specializing in politics and social media.

And the platform has a battery of tools to moderate content that violates its regulations.

Until now, the network of tweets had never attacked the voluble statesman, who regales his 80 million subscribers with daily tirades, political announcements, personal attacks, conspiracy theories, campaign statements ... .

But Twitter recently strengthened its fact-checking methods against misinformation considered "harmful" - messages that can harm people's health (false miracle cures against Covid-19), news erroneous electoral process, or incitement to violence.

"The pandemic has changed Twitter's position on the dangerous potential of disinformation," said Tiffany Li of the Yale Law School Information Society Project.

- Climbing -

When the platform's moderators posted two tweets from the President on Tuesday with the words "check the facts" on Tuesday, the decision to intervene was made at the top, knowingly.

The company believed in its rights, but "we knew that from a communications standpoint, hell was going to be unleashed on us," said Brandon Borrman, Twitter vice president of communications, at OneZero blog on Medium.

However, he did not expect the billionaire to directly attack a manager of the platform, designated as a scapegoat.

"If someone is to be held responsible for the actions of our company, it's me," Jack Dorsey, the head of the company, reacted on Wednesday before recalling the principles justifying the verification of the facts.

Friday, visibly determined not to be impressed by the decree and the flood of abusive messages, the network masked a message from Donald Trump on the clashes in Minneapolis to signal an "apology for violence".

In the name of the so-called "public interest" exception, the president's tweet remained accessible, but it is now impossible to retweet, "like" or respond to it.

In addition to reporting and the "mask", Twitter can use "downgrading" (which limits visibility) and even withdrawal.

"I do not think there will be deletion" of messages from Donald Trump, notes Daniel Kreiss, betting instead on measures that limit their scope.

The rules of the platform indicate that "leaders are not completely above our rules", and that it reserves the right to withdraw tweets promoting terrorism, violence or containing private data on other people .

- Who benefits from the crime -

It can also suspend or delete accounts for repeated violations.

But "they are not going to want to take such a risk" with the account of the president, judge Steven Livingston, director of the institute Data, Democracy and Politics of George Washington University.

Twitter will have to carefully assess its ability to resist if the White House and its allies continue to build up pressure, he analyzes.

On Friday, Republican Senator Ted Cruz called on the Justice Ministry to investigate the network of Jack Dorsey for non-compliance with sanctions against Iran, because the platform refuses to ban Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ajit Pai, the president of the federal authority of regulation of communications (FCC), for his part asked to Twitter if the messages of Ali Khamenei (who calls for jihad in Palestine, in particular) "do not break the rules" of the network on the apology of violence.

In the end, the Twitter vs Trump clash could benefit both parties, observes Daniel Kreiss.

"Ironically, this is good for Twitter because the group is at the center of a fundamental debate in the run-up to the 2020 elections, and it will increase the use of the platform," he said.

The president assured during the signing of the decree that he would not leave his favorite network, on the grounds that he could not rely on the American press, "not honest".

The conflict "gives it wings and helps it mobilize its base," notes Daniel Kreiss.

© 2020 AFP