Twitter said Sunday it added a label to a tweet shared by President Trump
Donald John TrumpTwo ‘The Apprentice’ Producers Help at Republican National Convention Some 70,000 lives could be saved in the near future if people wear masks: Trump researchers issue disaster declaration for California as wildfire rages MAY because it promoted misleading claims that “could potentially mislead people from participating in the vote,” marking the second instance in which the social media company has taken action on election-related messages shared by the president.
Trump shared a tweet earlier Sunday in which he falsely claimed that using mailboxes for the upcoming election could lead to fraud. The president, who has circulated unfounded post-in-vote claims several times in recent months, said dropboxes could allow people multiple times, calling it a “voter security disaster.”
The tweet now includes a label that says the post “wrote Twitter rules about civic and electoral integrity.” The tweet will remain accessible because Twitter states that it “may be in the public interest,” the company said.
“By our policy, this Tweet will remain on the service, given its relevance to ongoing public conversation,” Twitter said in a statement shared on its @TwitterSafety account. “Agreements with the Tweet will be limited. People will be able to retweet it with comments, but not like, reply or retweet.”
By our policy, this Tweet will remain on the service, given its relevance to ongoing public conversation. Agreements with the Tweet will be limited. People will be able to retweet with comments, but not like, reply or retweet. pic.twitter.com/USuaRr5ING
– Twitter Security (@TwitterSafety) August 23, 2020
Twitter’s policy notes that the company considers tweets to be in the public interest if they directly contribute to “understanding or discussion of a matter of public concern.” The exemption of public interest applies only to elected government officials.
Twitter and other social media platforms have to contend with increased control in the run-up to the 2020 elections over how to combat misinformation online. Twitter has gone ahead with one of the more restrictive approaches and has taken action on multiple messages shared by the president.
In late May, the company added fact-checking labels to a few tweets that Trump shared about voting via mail-in, representing the first time the company took such a step. Twitter said at the time the decision was made, because Trump’s tweets “contained potentially misleading information about voting processes and were labeled to provide additional context around post-in polls.”
Trump and Republican lawmakers decided the move as proof of bias from the tech company. Just days later, Trump signed an executive order focusing on protections offered to social media platforms under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The section of the law protects platforms from liability for the content posted by their users and the efforts they make to moderate it.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
Tech platforms have deployed a range of answers when it comes to content shared by the president and other lawmakers. Unlike Twitter, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot ZuckerbergHillicon Valley: Hacker Eye Students Returning to Virtual Classes as Easy Goals | Postmaster General demonstrates that votes are given priority | Shipt admits typo, will begin quarterly versions On The Money: Judge Rejects Trump’s Request for a Stay on Tax Records | Home sales skyrocket amid pandemic | S&P 500 sets new record for preparing Facebook plans in case Trump tries to delegitimize elections: Report more has concerns about politicians with fact-checking.
In June, however, Zuckerberg announced a new policy that would leave the company label “but valuable” posts that violate corporate policy. Facebook is now also adding labels that point people to more information about each post about votes shared by politicians.
Trump shared the same message about email dropboxes on Facebook. The post includes an add-on that directs users to the new Facebook Information Center that was launched earlier this month.
Facebook and Twitter in early August blocked a video shared by the Trump campaign in which the president claimed that children were immune to the coronavirus. The post represented a violation of its coronavirus traffic information policy, the companies said.
UPDATED 2:29 p.m.
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