When Joe Biden becomes US President in January, Donald Trump is set to lose more than his status as a world leader. The rules will change for the social network accounts he has relied upon to communicate with the world for the past four years.
As Reuters reports, social networks use a different set of rules for individuals classed as world leaders, political candidates, politicians, and government officials. It means tweets deemed as breaking the rules can be hidden behind a warning instead of being removed.
According to Twitter, "This policy framework applies to current world leaders and candidates for office, and not private citizens when they no longer hold these positions." In other words, any rule-breaking tweets by Donald Trump once he has left office will likely be removed, therefore restricting their reach.
Facebook has a similar set of special rules and exempts "candidates running for office, current office holders and many of their cabinet appointees, along with political parties and their leaders" from its third-party fact-checking program. It therefore seems likely Trump will revert to being a private citizen and subject to the fact-checking process in January. However, for now, and until Jan. 20 at least, President Trump can continue to tweet and receive warnings where necessary.