London (CNN Business) Twitter will continue to take a forgiving approach to objectionable tweets by world leaders, arguing that their messages are often of public interest.

The social media platform sought to clarify its rules for politicians Tuesday after coming under pressure from Senator Kamala Harris, a Democratic presidential candidate, to suspend President Donald Trump's account.

"We want to make it clear today that the accounts of world leaders are not above our policies entirely," Twitter said in a blog post, adding that part of its mission is to allow people to "engage their leaders directly."

Twitter TWTR said it was sticking to a policy first laid out in June.

Under those rules, tweets by world leaders that violate the platform's policies will stay online if they have a "clear public interest value." In some cases, Twitter will place the tweet behind a note that provides context.

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