Twitter reacted to criticism it had not done enough to block or suspend posts by world leaders which breach its own policies, issuing a statement explaining these messages are often allowed because there is a strong public interest.

In a blog, the company emphasised the accounts of political leaders “are not above our policies entirely”. However, in the interests of public information, if a breach occurs it may still allow the messages to be posted, but heavily restrict user interaction with the posts.

Specifically, the company said would place such tweets “behind a notice that provides context about the violation and allows people to click through should they wish to see the content”. Viewers would be blocked from liking, replying, sharing or retweeting posts, although they can still use the retweet with comment option.

Twitter introduced the policy in June, but is yet to actually employ the rules. This led to criticism after it declined to suspend the account of US President Donald Trump due to the content of some of his posts. CNN reported opposition to Trump’s tweets had intensified in recent weeks, after the president lashed out at politicians leading an impeachment probe against him.

Despite pledging to continue displaying tweets judged to be in the public interest, Twitter emphasised it would take action against any account which promotes terrorism; threatens violence against an individual; reveals private information, such as a home address or a personal phone number; or shares intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent.