back to article Donald, YOU'RE FIRED: Rogue Twitter worker quits, deletes President Trump's account

For a few minutes on Thursday afternoon, Pacific Time, the Twitter account of US President Donald J. Trump ceased to exist – sensationally deleted by a Twitter worker on their last day of work, we're told. The absence of such a distinctive, dare we say divisive, social media voice was immediately noticed, and welcomed by some …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fake news

    Sad!

    1. Number6

      Re: Fake news

      Why is it fake news when a lot of people seem to have seen it happen (not me - see below)?

      1. LaeMing
        Trollface

        Re: Fake news

        The number of people who saw it happen is irrelevant to the fakeness of the news.

      2. BillG
        WTF?

        Re: Fake news

        If a single Twitter employee, just one, can delete the account of a public figure with 41M followers with no checks and balances...

        Someone like Trump has the visibility to get his account restored. What about a Twitter employee that deletes your account because he doesn't like your position on Star Trek vs. Star Wars?

        Seems like something at Twitter is clearly broken and needs to be fixed.

        1. Adam Foxton

          Re: Fake news

          No, what's broken is the idea of using a single communications channel that you have absolutely no control over to handle your PR. This is why PR is more normally handled by services like a news agency or press conference where a multitude of outlets get to know what you tell them.

          Twitter's absolutely within their rights- and indeed responsibilities in many localities- to remove accounts without their registered user's permission.

          It's not YOUR account. It's /their/ network and /their/ account, which you use with /their/ permission. People seem to forget that.

          1. Monty Cantsin

            Re: Fake news

            @ Adam Foxton. You're confusing two issues though. Sure, the POTUS probably shouldn't be using Twitter the way he does (of course, it's not his only communication channel), and sure, you're merely hitching a ride on their platform, so you're never going to be in control.

            But regardless of who's account was deleted, Twitter shouldn't have it so a CS employee can unilaterally delete *anyone's* account under any circumstances. There should be something like a two-step process that requires a supervisor's approval. Having the process so lax is just leaving it open to abuse - and such abuse is a security and reputational risk that needs to be mitigated against.

            1. Phil W

              Re: Fake news

              @Monty Cantsin "There should be something like a two-step process that requires a supervisor's approval"

              So what about when the person doing it IS the supervisor? Should they get their boss to approve it? But wait who says that their boss is allowed to approve it? Better get their boss involved too....

              You can't have all destructive decisions in an organisation by any person require the approval of their supervisor, because that just becomes a chain reaction eventually requiring the CEO to make every decision.

              As someone else pointed out, the fact that they could do this likely means they were on the policy enforcement team. This is their job.

              1. No-One@No-Where

                Re: Fake news

                You are a bit thick aren't you

                A two step process means someone ELSE has to approve YOUR actions

                Fuck me

            2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

              Re: Fake news

              "Twitter shouldn't have it so a CS employee can unilaterally delete *anyone's* account under any circumstances. There should be something like a two-step process that requires a supervisor's approval."

              Maybe a whole lot of them got together to do it and then blamed someone who was leaving.

            3. Roland6 Silver badge

              Re: Fake news

              Re: There should be something like a two-step process that requires a supervisor's approval.

              There probably is a multistep procedure, which is why the account was only offline for a few minutes. However, it would still fall on a single employee to initially mark an account for deletion and thus start the process.

            4. ibmalone

              Re: Fake news

              It seems (I don't follow Trump and can't be bothered accessing his stream) that the account was not deleted, it was taken down, so all posts not deleted by the man himself were still there when it went back up. Taking an account down is something they need to be able to do fast when they get a complaint about a channel or find abuse prior to investigating (because terror wrists). So the review process (if any) would come after that.

            5. JLV

              Re: Fake news

              >There should be something like a two-step process

              Call me old-fashioned, but I think you are taking Twitter _way_ too seriously.

              Of course, that is also the case with Trump - the whole idea of basing a major part of POTUSs communication strategy* on Twitter has a certain comic opera feel to it, doesn't it?

              * I use that word loosely with Trump.

          2. Jim 59

            Re: Fake news

            Twitter's absolutely within their rights- and indeed responsibilities in many localities- to remove accounts without their registered user's permission. It's not YOUR account. It's /their/ network and /their/ account, which you use with /their/ permission. People seem to forget that.

            What? Nobody forgets that. Has anyone suggested that Twitter doesn't have the right to delete its own data (user accounts) ?

          3. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Fake news

            The White House used to have some sort of web page of their own didn't they? One would think that the Most Chosen Nation would have a mandated communication channel where they could convey unambiguous coherent statements and policy, but I guess that's just crazy talk...

          4. bombastic bob Silver badge
            Devil

            Re: Fake news

            "PR is more normally handled by services like a news agency or press conference where a multitude of outlets get to know what you tell them."

            and filter it, and spin it poorly, and spend weeks harping on a single word or tricky phrase (including omissions of same) and that's why Trump _BYPASSES_ them. "He said XXX" or "He didn't say XXX" becoming "news" for a month. Yeah, that'll help.

            If Trump didn't use twitter, he'd have a blog. The thing is, it's working. Look how many people are *IRRITATED* by it! Then look at *WHO* is irritated, and you can see what Trump's doing. It's like "Am I getting to you? Am I getting to you? Am I getting to you?"

            1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

              Re: Fake news

              "Look how many people are *IRRITATED* by it"

              I think the word you're looking for is "alarmed" because we feel it gives an insight into the mind of one of our great national leaders.

              It's worth repeating something that comes very shortly after the previous quotation:

              "One of the reasons for trying to maintain impenetrable secrecy around Government Ministers is that without it many would make themselves laughing stocks within days or -- at most -- weeks."

            2. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

              Re: Fake news

              "Then look at *WHO* is irritated, and you can see what Trump's doing. It's like "Am I getting to you? Am I getting to you? Am I getting to you?"

              Effing morons going on and on about bollocks tend to "get to you". Not a great positive for a POTUS.

        2. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

          Re: Fake news

          If a single Twitter employee, just one, can delete the account of a public figure with 41M followers with no checks and balances...

          Someone like Trump has the visibility to get his account restored. What about a Twitter employee that deletes your account because he doesn't like your position on Star Trek vs. Star Wars?

          1 - if he has those rights, he was probably part of the policy enforcement team

          2 - I don't even think they can do something to that employee in court, because all he did was his job - Trump's account has been WAY over the bar they have set themselves from even before he became President..

          Seems like something at Twitter is clearly broken and needs to be fixed.

          The very concept of Twitter is broken as it allows broadcasting of all sorts of trash to a mass audience. That's why the Senate started talking about broadcast licenses for Twitter, Google and Facebook..

        3. AVee

          Re: Fake news

          Seems like Twitter is clearly broken and needs to die.

          FTFY

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Fake news

          Why should they not? Twitter is not a human right.

        5. Cynic_999

          Re: Fake news

          "

          What about a Twitter employee that deletes your account because he doesn't like your position on Star Trek vs. Star Wars?

          "

          Then you would no longer have a Twitter account. Which would probably make you more productive, more sociable and better liked. You could always demand your money back.

          What about a Twitter subscriber who is busily coordinating a terrorist attack in real time, but cannot be stopped because the only senior Twitter employees who have the access rights to delete accounts are unavailable for the next few hours?

        6. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Flame

          Re: Fake news

          "What about a Twitter employee that deletes your account because he doesn't like your position on Star Trek vs. Star Wars?"

          that would be a trivial example. a more realistic one involves politics and religious beliefs [which is why Trump's account was deleted by that "rogue employee", no doubt].

          ARROGANT activist asshats need to just let people say/do what they want. But they're CONTROL FREAKS and FASCISTS. They should just wear brown shirts and swastika arm bands so they'll be easier to identify.

      3. IHateWearingATie
        WTF?

        Re: Fake news

        I suspect you missed the point of the post?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Fake news

      I'm not sure you get this "fake news" they haven't blamed Iran.

      Yet...

    3. sorry, what?
      Unhappy

      Re: Fake news

      I really hate this "fake news" moniker. It was previously good enough to use the traditional terms "hoax", "inaccurate", "false" etc. All it does is comment on the man's vocabulary and the plethora of sycophants in this world.

      I don't tweet (since I'm not a twit) and don't know the rules, but I regularly see quoted hate from this man that surely must be breaking them. This ex-employee appears to have been the only person with the cajones to apply the rules to this "fake president" (Trump certainly doesn't act like a real one).

      It is a shame his parents didn't call him Iggy Donald Ian Oliver Trump to make it easier for the world to stop taking notice of his rantings.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. JLV

        Re: Fake news

        Yup, another missed Schicklgruber*

        moment.

        * Nope, not calling Blowhard a N*** here, which is just as overblown an exageration as his ego, just appreciative of the power of names.

      3. Stevie

        Re: It was previously good enough to use the traditional terms "hoax", "inaccurate", "false" etc.

        But "Fake News" doesn't mean those things. It means "reported stuff that Donald Trump and those who follow his every utterance do not agree with".

        In the "post truth" world of Trump, you can make facts go away by wishing it, even if you know them to be true.

        The coal jobs are coming back. The wall will be paid for by Mexico. We'd all be better off if immigrants went home. {Pick your ethnic group} is demonstrably less human than my ethnic group. The sea level is not rising.

        All these are easily falsifiable, but you can rest easy repeating them if you label the arguments against as "Fake News".

        1. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

          Re: It was previously good enough to use the traditional terms "hoax", "inaccurate", "false" etc.

          But don't you know? Mexicans aren't real people. Once you don't need them to fix your car or clean your hotel any longer, you just get rid of them.

      4. GBE

        Re: Ahem

        > I really hate this "fake news" moniker. It was previously good enough to use the traditional terms "hoax", "inaccurate", "false" etc.

        The problem with terms like "hoax", "inaccurate", and "false" is that they're used to describe things that aren't true or didn't really happen.

        OTOH, the phrase "fake news" is generally used to describe things that _did_ happen and statements that _are_ true.

        HTH

    4. werdsmith Silver badge

      Re: Fake news

      I dunno about fake news. How about no news.

      An 11 minute outage on a twitter account? Can't get excited.

  2. Number6

    Damn! I missed it. For the good of the US (and the world) someone ought to set up a cron job to deactivate it overnight, although if he's off in Asia then perhaps 'overnight' needs to be a bit flexible.

    1. hplasm
      Boffin

      "perhaps 'overnight' needs to be a bit flexible."

      Set the cron job to Venus time...

      1. Muscleguy

        Re: "perhaps 'overnight' needs to be a bit flexible."

        How about dark side of mercury time?

    2. David Nash Silver badge

      It's always "overnight" somewhere...so that will be all the time then.

  3. Rich 11

    Obviously...

    ...one of the long-suffering reality-based people in the West Wing guessed that the president's Twitter password was 'djt' and used it to close the account. When Trump couldn't log in for his regular nvarchar(140) brain dump, he asked for a password reset, reactivated his account and set his new password to

    [Answers on a postcard]

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Obviously...

      bigly? yuge? pussy? fake? great?

      Does he know any other words?

      1. James O'Shea

        Re: Obviously...

        "Does he know any other words?"

        hmmm... 'wall'

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Obviously...

        That's a good question. Given his limited vocabulary I wonder how hard it would actually be to guess his credentials? Does Twitter have 2FA and has a grownup turned it on for him? if not then we need someone to leak his password hash.

        1. Not also known as SC

          Re: Obviously...

          "Given his limited vocabulary I wonder how hard it would actually be to guess his credentials?"

          But you have to allow for his spelling as well. I have many passwords which contain incorrectly spelt words.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Obviously...

            I'm not sure that that will save him. Even with all the speling mistaks, he probably only has a useful vocabulary of a few hundred words (say a hundred, and three ways of spelling each), and I doubt he can remember anything for long enough to type a password of more than two words ('what was I typing ... have to start again ... Bad!').

            Not that I suggest trying to attack his accounts, of course: that would be bad and, well, bad.

    2. Naselus

      Re: Obviously...

      It's obviously going to be djt1.

    3. Prst. V.Jeltz Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Obviously...

      regular nvarchar(140) brain dump

      nice one

    4. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: Obviously...

      "covfefe"

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This was only a test. The problem is that the account "has since been restored." But fortunately, they "are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again." Let's hope it's not a "simultaneously both secure and breakable encryption" kind of problem.

    1. macjules

      Ah, so Twitter CAN restore deleted tweets then? Now could they please explain that to the FBI?

      1. streaky

        Twitter didn't say that deleted accounts aren't recoverable. They said that tweets (content) deleted by account holders are *generally* not recoverable. Doesn't seem absurd based on observations and semi-sensible engineering decisions.

        Firstly - it seems like they don't delete things in real time, something comes along an jettisons things; but they're just hidden until that happens. Secondly when you "delete" a whole account it probably gets archived so it can be reactivated, even after that point. There's sensible evidence of this. If you wanted to kill all Trumps tweets you'd have to delete his actual tweets, and they'd probably live for a short period.

        On top of that I wouldn't be surprised if Twitter make extra effort to back up accounts of people with large follower accounts - in case something happens. I know I would.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ah, well, that ex-twitter employee won't receive any severance pay, may well be sued by both twitter and trump, and will never work in the USA again.

    I hope he thinks his actions were worth it.

    1. Wibble

      It was worth it for shits and giggles alone.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Our message is very important to us

      Wrap some high-level management explanatory BS around the core message of "my middle finger slipped on the keyboard" to obfuscate culpability. And while you might be surprised at it, I think you'll find that some credibility has been gained by that poor soul in some quarters and countries.

    3. Mark 85

      Actually, we need for someone to pin a medal on the lad and have a parade in his honor. Personally, I hire him in a minute for ingenuity and bravery. But yes, some companies will take their revenge on him as well as the blond guy in charge.

      One could reference any of the "Last great act of defiance" memes/posters as perhaps that's where the inspiration came from.

      1. Commswonk

        @ Mark 85: Actually, we need for someone to pin a medal on the lad and have a parade in his honor.

        The Nobel Peace Prize might be appropriate.

    4. Triggerfish

      @AC

      In a way I admire their audacity, and attempt to bring world peace to the planet if only for five minutes.

      But yeah career wise dumb move.

      1. veti Silver badge

        Re: @AC

        I just wonder when he found out it was his last day.

    5. Paul Woodhouse

      I suspect a LOT of people will think those actions were well worth it :D

      1. MyffyW Silver badge

        The world needs a few brave souls who don't fret about the stuff that keeps most of us passive and compliant.

        Not exactly Weisse Rose but it's a start.

        1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

          Not exactly Weisse Rose but it's a start.

          <Confused>

          What does Yorkshire have to do with it? I mean, I know it's the proper side of t'Pennines and all that..

          </Confused>

          1. Kurt Meyer

            White Rose

            @ CrazyOldCatMan

            White Rose

    6. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

      Not so fast. As I said earlier elsewhere:

      1 - the fact that he had the rights to delete accounts suggests he was in the enforcement team

      2 - there is nobody on the planet other than the utterly deluded who can consider Trump's account to have been operated within the bounds of the rules Twitter set themselves, so the guy was actually still doing his job.

      I wish them luck in court with that one. If they try that, you will be looking at the faster crowdsourced defence fund ever established - and worse, it could dump their share price..

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        " there is nobody on the planet other than the utterly deluded who can consider Trump's account to have been operated within the bounds of the rules Twitter set themselves"

        That's a statement to reflect on. I'm sure you're right.

      2. streaky

        That court case would be a media circus. Twitter and Trump would probably want to stay clear. Also yeah, Twitter's own ToS and internal guidance probably validate the action.

        If I was twitter I'd have workflow in place that prevents accounts of a certain size or type from being deleted without a cosign from somebody in management.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I'm skint

        But I am so in, I will find money for this!

    7. hazzamon

      And I imagine they will be able to point to the Twitter terms-of-service in writing and say that they were doing their job, as Trump's account is in violation.

    8. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      There's a movie in this ...

      I'm working on the script right now ...

  6. redpawn

    Undead Rising

    All the incriminating material from the election, illegal business deals, sexual assault and collusion with the Russians are fortunately rising from the dead in the same way. Not only administration friendly zombies inhabit the good old USA.

  7. EvaQ

    Compliments to Twitter

    ... for having a backup & restore procedure for accounts

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Compliments to Twitter

      .. now try telling the FBI again that you deleted accounts ..

  8. Florida1920
    Happy

    For 11 minutes

    The world was a better place.

    1. DontFeedTheTrolls
      Pirate

      Re: For 11 minutes

      "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes" - Andy Warhol

      So, 4 minutes of fame left elsewhere...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: For 11 minutes

      ..and the Internet's IQ doubled

  9. 10111101101

    Twitter's new AI seems to be working too well!

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      My dad (a math professor - optimal control and differential equations) used to have a saying:

      Never involve artificial intelligence where natural stupidity will suffice

  10. WonkoTheSane
    Thumb Up

    I wonder if...

    Yesterday,, I reported Donnie's "Bring back the death penalty" tweet as "Threatening harm to others".

    Maybe this "departing employee" received that report & acted on it?

    Maybe they weren't "departing" until their manager found out?

  11. Goopy

    Chirp

    Thank God someone finally did something about that idiot's account (it breaks all the rules). I hope to all of the Greek gods give this employee a management position at Twitter top priority.

    And leader of the Free World. That is a long stretch of logic there.

    1. Richard 45

      Re: Chirp

      Well, he is. I understand that that upsets you.

      1. Sir Runcible Spoon
        FAIL

        Re: Chirp

        So, not much of a leader - check; Not so free world - check.

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Chirp

        "Well, he is [leader of the free world]. I understand that that upsets you."

        I don't acknowledge him as my leader here in the UK so either he isn't my leader or else he is but I'm not free to choose.

        Your statement fails.

        1. MJI Silver badge

          Re: Chirp

          Leader of free world?

          Isn't that Her Majesty?

          1. bombastic bob Silver badge
            Devil

            Re: Chirp

            "Isn't that Her Majesty?"

            The PM might have something to say about that...

            1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

              Re: Chirp

              "The PM might have something to say about that."

              She's an expert on leadership now?

      3. David 18

        Re: Chirp

        @Richard 45

        I have always detested that term for the US President. None have been, nor will be my leader. It's an anachronism originally created from necessity during WWII and resurrected in times of crisis.

        As your current incumbent has woeful leadership skill and goes against everything your once-great country stood for even your country can not be considered free - I would rather visit a tin-pot African dictatorship than set foot in the USA while he is "in charge".

        Leader of the Free World is also totally inappropriate for the Orange Loon as he seems to want to become ever more insular and alienate your country's friends and allies. As an outsider he appears to me to be the most backward, unpatriotic and un-American individual. He is good at marketing himself which seems to be the only thing that matter these days.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Chirp

          > It's an anachronism originally created from necessity during WWII and resurrected in times of crisis.

          Pedantically, it's a Cold War anachronism: the West was the free world because the Soviet and Eastern-blocs weren't.

          1. David 18

            Re: Chirp

            'Pedantically, it's a Cold War anachronism: the West was the free world because the Soviet and Eastern-blocs weren't.'

            No, pretty certain the use was ww2, the Axis powers being not free and continued/resurrected during cold war. Happy to be proven wrong.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well, whoever it was ...

    ... they should be nominated for the Noble Peace Prize.

  13. chivo243 Silver badge
    Coat

    Don't worry...

    This guy or gal will work again, there are enough anti-Trump companies out there. Maybe not Twitter/google/apple/MS sized, but he won't starve.

    And if this was his last day, chances are he has another gig lined up.

  14. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    Not very proffessional.

    But if you're going to take down 1 account (I don't see anyone else complaining of losing theirs) that would have to be the one. A real "surgical strike" with no collateral damage.

    Or as a Chinese commentard might put it.

    "Trump silent. The running dog has been muzzled at last."

    1. Naselus

      Re: Not very proffessional.

      Given that Trump violates most of Twitter's T&Cs on a daily basis, the unprofessional one was likely the guy re-activating it.

  15. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Just one Twitter account?

    Should have deleted the whole damn lot. And the backups.

    Bah humbug.

  16. M7S

    Just to be clear on the sequence of events

    Whilst it might seem to most readers to have been a prank by someone leaving anyway, from the information given there is the slim possibility that this became the employee's last day once this action (deliberate or otherwise) was discovered, said last day not necessarily being his initial choice.

    In which case any subsequent unfair dismissal claim could be interesting....

  17. big_D Silver badge
    Coat

    Last day...

    It was the staffer's last day after this snafu, before that, he had no idea he was leaving the company forever that day.

    1. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

      Re: Last day...

      "before that, he had no idea he was leaving the company forever that day"

      I'm sure he would have had pretty good idea about that.

    2. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Last day...

      was it actually a RAGE QUIT?

      just wondering...

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So someone had the control over Trumps account.

    This is actually quite scary when you think about it and realistically the President shouldn't be on twitter like this.

    Lets play what if?

    What if they had posted a tweet "I have just launched a Nuclear Weapon against North Korea, THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER"?

    Does this mean Twitter could cause the end of the world as we know it?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > What if they had posted a tweet "I have just launched a Nuclear Weapon against North Korea, THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER"?

      The fact that'd the world would believe its true shows its *already* the end of the world.

    2. Stumpy

      Does this mean Twitter could cause the end of the world as we know it?

      There are some that think this may already have happened (or started, at least).

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I guess that is what happened here, but the FBI/CIA was smart enough to make it look like the account was down for few minutes.

    4. tiggity Silver badge

      .. Having the ability to delete the account of Trump (or whoever) would not also imply ability to make posts with that account.

      Deleting a users account (in all software solutions I have ever seen) does not mean you have / need that users login credentials ... it means you, on whatever system you use for admin, have appropriate rights to delete.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @tiggity

        So you could delete the account and create a new one in the same name?

        I say potato you say tomato.

        In most software solutions I've seen the ability to reset an account is usually applied with the ability to delete. I would actually put delete higher on the level of permissions than reset password.

    5. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

      "I have just launched a Nuclear Weapon against North Korea, THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER"?

      I remember an incident years ago, when Reagan was POTUS. He was getting ready to for an interview, and said something along the lines of "We have just agreed to outlaw Russia - we begin bombing in 20 minutes". He thought he was just saying something to let the sound tech set the mic level, but the statement was actually broadcast live to 'x' million viewers/listeners.

      1. bombastic bob Silver badge
        Devil

        "we begin bombing in 20 minutes"

        What's funny was the SOVIET reaction to it. It scared them. It probably sped up some of the nuclear proliferation treaties and maybe some of their own internal reforms... what was that called, 'perestroika' or something like that?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          What's funny was the SOVIET reaction to it. It scared them. It probably sped up some of the nuclear proliferation treaties and maybe some of their own internal reforms... what was that called, 'perestroika' or something like that?

          You strike me as the kind of person who would lick an uncovered power socket to check if the mains was still on.

          1. Kiwi
            Coat

            You strike me as the kind of person who would lick an uncovered power socket to check if the mains was still on.

            Could explain his politics...

    6. Tom 38
      Mushroom

      Does this mean Twitter could cause the end of the world as we know it?

      In the beginning, no-one was sure of the legitimacy of the Donald's twitter outbursts, until it was confirmed that these are presidential statements, so a guy made a bot that turns them in to correctly formatted White House Press Office releases.

      So - Yes.Icon is what it will lead to.

  19. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Mushroom

    That a staffer could delete a profile with 41 million followers, one belonging to the leader of the free world no less, is staggering. And also awesome. ®

    That profile, with 41 million followers, one belonging to the leader of the free world no less, could, with one ill-considered throwaway remark trigger a nuclear response by the leader of a less free society is something to be worried about. And also awesome. ®

    1. hplasm
      Coat

      ...one belonging to the leader of the free world no less...

      What? Has Merkel's account been shut down too?

  20. Christian Berger

    Interresting question: Do people have a right to a twitter account?

    I mean what if twitter just kicked him out? It's a commercial service after all that's not really regulated.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Interresting question: Do people have a right to a twitter account?

      No, no one has a right to an account. Standard T&C's but Donald Thump is great for advertising.

      1. Lt.Kije

        Re: Interresting question: Do people have a right to a twitter account?

        Seems to me that POTUS has singlehandedly rescued Twitter from Wall Street's trash can.

      2. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: Interresting question: Do people have a right to a twitter account?

        "...Donald Thump is great for advertising."

        ???

        Depends what you're advertising, I guess.

        Donald Trump brand fertilizer...it's pure unadulterated bullshit!

    2. A K Stiles
      Headmaster

      Re: Interresting question: Do people have a right to a twitter account?

      Is the typo deliberate? Are you truly interested in the answer or are you suggesting that you might get interred for suggesting his account gets dumped properly?

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Re: Interresting question: Do people have a right to a twitter account?

        Is the typo deliberate?

        Robot Wars, innit.

  21. ukgnome

    Twitter should stick to the T&C and ban the orange twerp.

    Twitter is an unusual place. They will ban you for small idiotic things. But if you are the President Cheetos then you can call people pathetic, sad, weird, crooked. You can incite war and generally do anything you damn well please. Twitter should stick to the T&C and ban the orange twerp.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Twitter should stick to the T&C and ban the orange twerp.

      it would be interesting, as an experiment, to set up any twitter account and just copy all the abuse entered by Trump's account. Just to see how long that account would last before it was shut due to violation of terms and cond

    2. DropBear

      Re: Twitter should stick to the T&C and ban the orange twerp.

      Unfortunately, by the same token that lets them delete your account if they "feel" you're violating whatever even if it's painfully obvious to any sane person you are doing no such thing, they are free to _not_ apply any of their so-called "terms" by simply going "nu-uh!" if anyone points out a violation.

      In fact, one could arguably sue any company today for calling their terms of service "terms of service", suggesting the existence of an objective aspect that clearly doesn't exist. What they should be called instead is "guidelines regarding things that tend to make us not like you and get you kicked out, unless we happen to really like you in which case never mind, you can do whatever the fuck you want for as long as you feel like it".

      1. Swarthy
        Thumb Up

        Re: Twitter should stick to the T&C and ban the orange twerp.

        What they should be called instead is "guidelines regarding things that tend to make us not like you and get you kicked out, unless we happen to really like you in which case never mind, you can do whatever the fuck you want for as long as you feel like it".
        A nice, short phrase like "US Justice System"?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Twitter should stick to the T&C and ban the orange twerp.

          A nice, short phrase like "US Justice System"?

          No, that's misleading too, on account of lacking justice for people who don't have money or a white skin. "US Legal system" is more precise, as it doesn't make any promises that are not kept.

    3. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Twitter should stick to the T&C and ban the orange twerp.

      "They will ban you for small idiotic things."

      Large idiotic things are OK. Size matters.

  22. Dave Ross

    That Twitter employee is a real American hero!

  23. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    I can't wait…

    … until someone hacks the account, assuming they haven't done so already!

    But, if they do, would anyone notice? I guess it's probably easy enough to write a Trump-bot…

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Brain FRIED, core dumped

    "Donald, YOU'RE FIRED: Twitter staffer quits, deletes rogue President"

    FTFY.

  25. Naselus

    To be honest

    I didn't even know Hillary had been working at Twitter.

  26. my fingers stuck

    viva freedom of speech..

    if all you whingers agreed with Trumps comments, you would now be fuming at the deletion of his account... free speech is ok so long as you agree with what is said...

    1. Blank Reg

      Re: viva freedom of speech..

      The first ammendment doesn't apply to private corporations, they are free to censor you in any way they choose. Only the government is restricted in restricting what you say.

    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: viva freedom of speech..

      I object in principle to the use privileged use of any media outlet for government communication.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: viva freedom of speech..

      @my fingers stuck

      ... where?

    4. David Nash Silver badge

      Re: viva freedom of speech..

      Nobody was whinging. If anything people were having a good laugh and congratulating the Twitter (ex-)employee who did this while speculating on any number of things.

  27. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    What's the turnover in Twitter staff? How many leave per day?

    Maybe this could be written into their leaving process: clear your desk, collect your final pay, delete Trump's account.

  28. enormous c word

    ... and for 11 minutes the world was a safer and saner place. @TheLegend, I salute you - whoever you are...

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    rules are rules

    I thought for a moment, when I read the headline: they kicked him out for breaking the rules! But then, reality knocked on my brain and the eyes confirmed that: there's NO WAY in the world they would enforce their rules against everybody across the board, including the prez, it was merely a parting "fuck you" from a departed. Will never happen again, nosir! Being the biggest bully in the world does help!

  30. JJKing
    Thumb Down

    Two faced Twitter with double standards.

    Rose McGowan had her account suspended for making posts about her abuse experiences.

    Drumpf is allowed to rant, rave, abuse, threaten, falsely accuse and lie but nothing happens. He doesn't have 41Million followers. He has 41 bots constantly working on his numbers.

    Well done to The Legend. It is a regret that it only lasted 11 minutes.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Two faced Twitter with double standards.

      They are simply following in the tradition of America having completely fucked up moral values. Promoting hatred is fine but do not dare think about posting a naked butt cheek. Apparently - as God intended it.

  31. chivo243 Silver badge

    Heralded as a Hero!

    In the aftermath, some Twitter users branded the as-yet-unnamed employee as a hero.

    “Not all heroes wear capes,” tweeted out British journalist Oliver Bullough‏, on learning that the account had been deactivated by human error.

    http://www.newsweek.com/twitter-employee-who-deleted-trumps-account-being-hailed-hero-700633

  32. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

    "The account was down for 11 minutes, and has since been restored. We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again."

    I guess this is the level of service that all Twitter users get?

    (I wouldn't know as I'm not on Twitter myself.)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I guess this is the level of service that all Twitter users get?

      No, normally it's much better. It's unusual that an account that deserves to be closed is online again after 11 minutes. I guess that's what they're investigating right now because I can't see anything else worth investigating in this story. Someone did the job they were supposed to do, it should not have been so easy to undo it, even after that person left the company, clearly that needs fixing.

      I hope that clears that up :)

      1. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

        Yeah, I'm not on Twitter, but if I were I would report Trump constantly...

  33. handleoclast
    Pint

    Ambiguity

    Twitter's statement on the matter seems carefully constructed in that it allows an ambiguous interpretation.

    Did the guy decide that on the last day of his job he'd delete the moron's account? Or did it turn out to be the last day of his job after he deleted the moron's account. Probably the former, but the latter is a possibility.

    Either way, the guy deserves a --------->

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In the End...

    I'd bet the farm this lone acting employee gets far worse treatment the Hillary did with her blatant disregard of the rules running shadow IT out of her house.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Twitter deletes parody accounts at the drop of a hat.

    Every so often Southeastern trains get all upset about being parodied and start a game of whack-a-mole with the parody accounts.

    Generally speaking, sanity reigns again fairly quickly and they realise doing this has a negative PR effect. Mostly making them even more of a laughing stock.

  36. 2Nick3

    "Suppression of free speech!!!!"

    That's what everyone would be saying if they agreed with what was posted on the account. Be honest with yourself - if you change the account here to someone you like does your response to this change?

    That's the problem with universal freedoms - they apply to everyone.

    1. David Nash Silver badge

      Re: "Suppression of free speech!!!!"

      The "freedom" to post whatever you want on Twitter, indeed to have an account, is not a Freedom at all, universal or otherwise.

      Also if "everyone" agreed with what was posted it's not likely that this would have happened in the first place.

      1. 2Nick3

        Re: "Suppression of free speech!!!!"

        My point is that if this happened to someone else, that having their account disabled like this and it just disappearing would have people screaming about it being to suppress the right to free speech. Substitute Al Sharpton for Donald Trump (trying for someone toward the opposite end of the political spectrum) and the same people responding about how 'great' it is this happened would have a completely different reaction.

        Not everyone agrees with what Al Sharpton says either, but that's not the group chiming in about how 'cool' it is that this happened to Trump.

        Even though, as you say, having a Twitter account is not an inalienable right.

  37. StoneTheKiwis

    Only deleted?

    He should have locked the account and made one last post:

    "Hey world - just realised what a total cunt I am.

    SAD! I QUIT!"

  38. unwarranted triumphalism

    Good luck

    ... getting a job ever again after that childish tantrum. I hope he is evicted from his home and shunned by civilised society. And then deported.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Good luck

      No - I think he's still president for now.

    2. David Nash Silver badge

      Re: Good luck

      Yes because that would be proportionate, wouldn't it?

      1. unwarranted triumphalism

        Re: Good luck

        I thought that was being rather lenient. I will not demand the death penalty... this time.

    3. Tom 38

      Re: Good luck

      And then deported.

      You make this sound like a bad thing, but after being deported you're no longer in America.

  39. Tony Jarvie
    Trollface

    "He deleted my account?!?"

    "Bring back the death penalty - hanging isn't good enough for that scumbag!"

  40. gal5

    Liberals' level of hate just got upped a notch

    They live and breath political hate. THAT is .. sad, really sad.

    1. David Nash Silver badge

      Re: Liberals' level of hate just got upped a notch

      Because nobody on the right has any political hate, right?

    2. veti Silver badge

      Re: Liberals' level of hate just got upped a notch

      What hate? *This* is mirth.

      It's not as if we're laughing at someone running over Trump's cat, or driving a truck into one of those atrocious buildings of his. "11 minutes without a Twitter account" is not an injury, merely an insult. You, and the twat-in-chief, should learn the difference.

  41. Jamie Jones Silver badge

    The president should be nowhere near twitter

    I've thought this for some time.

    The President (and other officials) should never be using something like twitter. Hell, they have all these secure protocols, official press briefings, secret service agents everywhere... yet some commercial internet company is responsible for (what is, in effect) the official view of the POTUS.

    Is there a secure line from the white house to twitter hq? Are there secret service agents in the twitter offices, or at key network points?

    The whole idea of using twitter like this is a serious security breach (and twitter themselves are totally innocent in this).

    POTUS is breaching security, why can't the courts stop him? Why can't his advisers?

    Hell, set up trumptwit.whitehouse.gov securely for him to play with instead - I'm sure it would get the followers.

  42. Haku

    It's a shame the backups weren't erased.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yep, because if your account were inappropriately disabled everything from it should disappear. No way you (or anyone else) that was put in that situation would be unhappy about everything in your account history going away because one person decided you didn't have the right to have the account.

      1. Haku
        Holmes

        No shit, Sherlock.

        I take it you don't understand the concept of jokes?

  43. MatsSvensson

    Relax!

    They just had to turn it off a minute, while they changed the bucket under the server.

  44. gc23

    "I deleted Donald Trump's Twitter account because Twitter deleted my job."

    I'm sure there was a good reason why this person got canned. They just proved their own inadequacy,

  45. This post has been deleted by its author

  46. Andy 97

    Whoever did this, there's a beer waiting for them here...

    ...providing they can escape Guantanamo first obviously.

  47. Brian Allan 1

    If we could delete his Twitter account permanently, the world would be a far better place!!

  48. Nocroman
    Boffin

    Twitter and peace

    I am glad someone deleted the presidents twitter account. Our president has a white house spokesperson to inform the media and public what is going on with his administration. Twitter is for inviting me and my family to the white house for dinner. and not to trash other people for saying what they believe. The American people were smart enough to see through the bullshit the democrats were spreading to say no to their candidate. We are smart enough to see the bullshit the news media and public officials are spreading around today.

  49. EJ

    Anyone got the contractor's Venmo? Need to send him a few $$ for trying...

  50. Phukov Andigh Bronze badge

    One guy, a criminal for shutting down incompetence

    another, a hero.

    Why can't we get some consistency here? BOFH's Unite!

    Sysadmins Against Incompetence.

    But lock out one PHB in San Francisco and it's jail time. Mess with a Federal officer, and youve got job offers.

  51. MAH

    ah, well, that ex-twitter employee won't receive any severance pay, may well be sued by both twitter and trump, and will never work in the USA again.

    I actually expect that all that really happened was the account was disable, not deleted which as long as that ability was within their normal roles and responsibilities (ie, he was authorized to disable accounts) and he was still officially working for twitter during that time (ie, he hasn't officially quit) then really, nothing can be done. I guess the same could be said for deletion too (again as long as it was within his normal roles and responsibility).

    He could be fired, but he was already out the door.

    About the only way he can really get in trouble is if he performed an unauthorized role, he already quit and was therefore accessing computer system illegally.

    They could possibly civilly sue him for damages but a judge would laugh that out of court as an 11 minute recovery obviously meant there was little financial impact to the company.

    ps - I am using "he" generally as it could be a She, but usually only us guys are that stupid...

  52. tempemeaty

    Contract customer-support centers are murder...to work at...

    Working in contracted customer-support centers can be stunning experience in being mistreated as an employee. I've been there, got the bumper sticker, T-Shirt, prematurely gray hair, health failure and emotional scars... So I'm not surprised at that employee for doing just what he/she did! In my time in hell at one of those customer-support centers I've seen people leave horizontally, someone fall unconscious on a support call, others rage quit, throw head sets and even monitors.

    Perhaps this situation is begging President Trump to do something about these Corporations abusive behavior toward working American employees at customer-support centers?

  53. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I once deleted the login exe on a school network out of boredom and curiosity.

    But that's not even a grain of sand in the Sahara desert compared to deleting Trump's twitter account.

    *bows respectively at whoever did it*

  54. OlderthanDirt

    Wonder how much Gen. Kelly paid this guy to shut iti down?

  55. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Twitter obviously uses his account for system monitoring.

    No tweet for >10 mins... either the system's down or it's WW3

  56. Baldrickk

    So if he puts this on his CV, is he more or less likely to get a new job?

  57. steviebuk Silver badge

    I assume...

    ...they can't do anything to the contractor as was their last day and they clearly had the required permissions. Or even if they didn't and did something naughty to get those permissions, I'm assuming they still can't do anything as that person has left.

    To cover themselves anyway, they could of just simply put a note on the account

    "Disabled due to constant violation of Twitters T&Cs".

    That would be correct and accurate but because of who Trump is, they let him get away with it.

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