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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday May 27 2020, @12:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the fact-checking dept.

Twitter adds label to Trump's misleading tweets about mail-in ballots:

Twitter said Tuesday that it added a label to President Donald Trump's tweets for containing "potentially misleading information about voting processes," a rare move that shows the social media company is taking a tougher stance against misinformation.

It's the first time that Twitter has displayed a label on Trump's tweets.

On Tuesday, Trump tweeted that "There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-in-Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent," a claim that has been debunked by fact-checkers and news organizations. He continues his remarks in another tweet, stating that it will be a "Rigged election."

A label appears under both tweets that states "Get the facts about mail-in ballots." Clicking on the warning notice directs users to a page that states that fact-checkers say there isn't any evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud. Trump also falsely states in the tweets that California will send mail-in ballots to "anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there" when only registered voters will receive ballots. States such as Oregon, Utah and Washington have long conducted elections by mail only, while states such as Nebraska allow any voter to request a ballot and vote by mail without having to provide a reason.

A Twitter spokeswoman said in a statement that the decision is in line with how the company approaches misinformation on its site, which includes adding warning notices and labels depending on the likelihood and severity of harm a tweet could cause.

Twitter's actions against Trump's tweets will also likely increase tensions between the company and conservative users, who allege that the social network suppresses their speech. Twitter has repeatedly denied those allegations. Earlier this month, Trump tweeted that the "Radical Left" is in control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google and said his administration is working on a solution.

In two tweets, Trump accused Twitter of interfering in the 2020 US presidential election.

"Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!," he tweeted.

Also at BBC News, Ars Technica, MIT Technology Review


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by PiMuNu on Wednesday May 27 2020, @02:56PM (3 children)

    by PiMuNu (3823) on Wednesday May 27 2020, @02:56PM (#999673)

    > I'd like to think that he wins votes that don't matter

    Not sure why I am getting modded troll. But meh...

    The technique that Trump applies so successful is to keep the media focussed on his policies, his tweets, etc. Time and again he has distracted the media from covering democrat policy, or republican cock-ups. He uses the same trick every time, that is drop a tweet that implies racism, fascism, etc without actually being racist or sexist. The democrats get their backs up, the republicans point out that he hasn't done anything wrong, the moderates sort of get stuck in the middle. Usually he picks something designed to inflame the democrats without really being significant. And once again, he gets his message out and blocks the opposition.

    Like I say, he is a great troll.

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2020, @03:22PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2020, @03:22PM (#999689)

    Not sure why I am getting modded troll.

    democrats

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2020, @04:25PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2020, @04:25PM (#999753)

      Actually it is a false flag operation by Republican sock puppets to stoke partisan anger. But whatever makes you feel special.

  • (Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Friday May 29 2020, @02:51AM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Friday May 29 2020, @02:51AM (#1000376) Journal

    ... he has distracted the media from covering democrat policy ...

    The media is grateful because the less Joe Biden talks, the better his chances of winning are.