On Tuesday, Twitter added a warning phrase to two of President Donald Trump’s tweets that called mail-in ballots « fraudulent » and predicted that « mail boxes will be robbed, » among other things.
For the first time, Twitter has flagged some of President Donald Trump’s tweets with a fact-check warning.
On Tuesday, Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots « fraudulent » and predicted that « mail boxes will be robbed, » among other things. Under the tweets, there is now a link reading « Get the facts about mail-in ballots » that guides users to a Twitter « moments » page with fact checks and news stories about Trump’s unsubstantiated claims.
Until now, the president has simply blown past Twitter’s half-hearted attempts to enforce rules intended to promote civility and « healthy » conversation on its most prominent user. Trump frequently amplifies misinformation, spreads abuse and uses his pulpit to personally attack private citizens and public figures alike — all forbidden under Twitter’s official rules.
In a statement, Twitter said Trump’s vote-by-mail tweets « contain potentially misleading information about voting processes and have been labeled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots. »
Trump has never previously faced Twitter sanctions on his account. The husband of a woman who died by accident two decades ago in an office of then-GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough recently demanded that Twitter remove the president’s baseless tweets suggesting that Scarborough, now a fierce Trump critic, killed her. Twitter issued a statement expressing its regret to the husband but so far has taken no action on those tweets.
