SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Presidents and other world leaders and political figures who use Twitter to threaten or abuse others could find their tweets slapped with warning labels.

The new policy , announced by the company on Thursday, comes amid complaints from activists and others that President Donald Trump has gotten a free pass from Twitter to post hateful messages and attack his enemies in ways they say could lead to violence.

From now on, a tweet that Twitter deems to involve matters of public interest, but which violates the service’s rules, will be obscured by a warning explaining the violation.

Users will have to tap through the warning to see the underlying message, but the tweet won’t be removed, as Twitter might do with a regular person’s posts.

Twitter said the policy applies to all government officials, candidates and similar public figures with more than 100,000 followers. In addition to applying the label, Twitter won’t use its algorithms to “elevate” or otherwise promote such tweets.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Keegan Hankes, research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, who focuses on far-right extremist propaganda online. But, he added, Twitter is essentially arguing “that hate speech can be in the public interest. I am arguing that hate speech is never in the public interest.”

The new stance could fuel additional Trumpian ire toward social media. The president routinely complains, without evidence, that social media sites are biased against him and other conservatives.

Twitter’s rules prohibit threatening violence against a person or group, engaging in “targeted harassment of someone,” or inciting others to do so, such as wishing a person is harmed. It also bans hate speech against a group based on race, ethnicity, gender or other categories.

Up to now, the company has exempted prominent leaders from many of those rules, contending that publishing controversial tweets from politicians helps hold them accountable and encourages discussion.

But there have been longstanding calls to remove Trump from the service over what some have called abusive and threatening behavior.

Some activists complained this week after the president threatened Iran with “obliteration” in some areas if it attacks the U.S. Trump has also tweeted a video of himself beating up a man with a CNN logo in place of his head and retweeted seemingly faked anti-Muslim videos.

“Donald Trump has changed political discourse on Twitter and everywhere else, given the level of toxic statements he has made about vulnerable communities in America,” Hankes said.

Other politicians could likewise become subject to warning labels.

In 2018, French prosecutors filed preliminary charges against far-right French politician Marine Le Pen for tweeting brutal images of Islamic State violence. Twtter prohibits material that is “excessively gory.”

And in March, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stirred outrage by sharing a video on Twitter of a man urinating on the head of another man during a Carnival party.

Insults and mockery fall into a gray area. Calling someone a “lowlife, a “dog” or a “stone cold LOSER,” as Trump hasdone , may not in itself be a violation. But repeated insults against someone might amount to prohibited harassment.

Jennifer Grygiel, a social media expert and professor at Syracuse University, said Twitter “obviously” enacted the new policy because of Trump’s Twitter activity.

But Grygiel said the new rule doesn’t go far enough. Because of the president’s outsize ability to start wars, move stock markets or influence other world events, Twitter should instead review leaders’ tweets before they are sent out and block them if necessary, Grygiel said.

Twitter’s new policy doesn’t apply to past tweets.

Twitter said it is still possible for a government official or other figure to tweet something so egregious that it warrants removal. A direct threat of violence against an individual, for instance, would qualify.

The company said warning-label decisions will be made by a group that includes members of its trust and safety, legal and public policy teams, as well as employees in the regions where particular tweets originate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Same stage. Same rules. But the Democrats’ second back-to back debate is fueled by star power.

Debate night No. 2 marks the first time top-tier presidential candidates will confront one another in person over who is best fit to lead the Democratic effort to oust President Donald Trump in 2020.

The sheer star power of the showdown Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern amps up the pressure on candidates to stand out, pile on, fend off attacks or just survive. It’s Joe Biden’s night to show he commands the field. But it’s Bernie Sanders’ chance to show he’s the one who understands today’s Democratic Party. Pete Buttigieg could try to sound like a leader on the national stage, and Kamala Harris may aim to make a more personal impression.

For all 10 candidates on stage in Miami, the forum is a chance to make Americans picture them as formidable foes to Trump over two hours of lightning-round questions.

Here’s what to watch on the second night of the first presidential debates, airing on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo:

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BIDEN VS. SANDERS

Ten candidates will be on stage. But two — Biden and Sanders — will most starkly represent the divide over the direction of the Democratic Party.

Sanders, a Vermont senator and democratic socialist, has proudly pushed the party to the left, arguing Democrats must embrace the progressive base that fueled his insurgent 2016 candidacy. Many of his 2020 rivals have paid attention, embracing proposals such as “Medicare for All” that have been on the fringe in prior elections.

Biden, however, has resisted the leftward rush. He rarely invokes Sanders by name, but bemoans the idea that to be seen as a liberal today, candidates must embrace socialism. He argues such moves will turn off the very working-class voters that moved away from Democrats in 2016 to embrace Trump.

Expect plenty of skirmishes between these two. Sanders has already knocked Biden for his vote backing the Iraq War and derided his big-money fundraisers. The former vice president has tried to stay above the fray — but that task could get harder under the glare of the debate stage spotlight.

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HARRIS AND GILLIBRAND

The other candidates on stage aren’t likely to let Biden and Sanders suck up all the oxygen. For White House hopefuls like Sens. Harris of California and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, the debate offers a crucial opportunity to break through the crowded field.

Harris has successfully used her perch on Capitol Hill to spur viral moments that highlight her prosecutorial past, including her tough questioning of Attorney General William Barr. But she’s struggled to convey — in quick sound bites — who she is as a human being. She’s tried to get more personal recently, talking about watching her mother struggle with racism. Watch to see whether she goes further tonight.

For Gillibrand, the debate could be a make or break moment as she’s struggled to make inroads in polls and fundraising. She’s an unabashed feminist on the campaign trail and will likely try to rally women with passionate defense of reproductive rights.

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MAYOR PETE’S MOMENT

Pete Buttigieg has been the darling of the Democratic Party for months. The articulate mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who is both gay and an Ivy League-schooled military veteran, is seen as a potentially effective opponent against Trump.

But he walks onto the debate stage confronting some of the toughest issues in American life: race and policing.

He has been criticized back home for his handling of a fatal police shooting of a black man. He’ll likely be confronted about his record as mayor and his management of a largely white police department.

He seemed to test some potential debate night messages during a fundraiser this week.

“Leadership consists of facing reality,” he said. “And right now, I’m afraid our leaders at the national level are at war with reality.”

But just by being there, the 37-year-old Buttigieg makes age and the future of the party an issue. Watch for whether he can cast his challenges as experience that qualifies him to lead the nation.

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HEALTH CARE, IMMIGRATION

The future of health care split Democrats during the first debate, with only Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio saying they’d back the abolition of private insurance. Watch for more divides on Thursday. Sanders’ “Medicare for All” proposal doesn’t include private insurance, but Biden hasn’t been willing to embrace such an approach.

Meanwhile, the searing photo of a father and daughter face-down in the Rio Grande has dominated talk of the migrant crisis this week. Look for whether Democrats offer many detailed proposals of their own beyond criticizing Trump’s hardline immigration policy.

Biden released part of his immigration plan on Monday, proposing that Congress grant immediate citizenship to 800,000-plus U.S. residents who were brought to the country illegally as children. But his outline was heavier on barbs at Trump.

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MCCONNELL, MCCONNELL, MCCONNELL

The Senate majority leader said this week he’d rather watch a baseball game than the Democratic debates. But the Democrats and moderators couldn’t stop talking about him during Wednesday’s face-off, giving him as much or more airtime than Trump, who is their actual opponent in 2020. Key to the McConnell discussion was his drive to fill the bench and deny Democrats a chance to reshape the Supreme Court.

Listen for whether the Kentucky Republican makes another virtual star turn on Thursday night, hours after the high court dealt a huge blow to efforts to combat the drawing of electoral districts for partisan gain but also put a hold on the Trump administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.