Twitter adds fact-check warnings to Trump tweets for first time; US President hits back

For the first time, micro-blogging site Twitter on Tuesday labelled tweets from United States President Donald Trump as misleading. The social media giant highlighted two of Trump's tweets that falsely claimed mail-in ballots would lead to widespread voter fraud. "Get the facts about mail-in ballots," read a message under each tweet.

Twitter adds fact-check warnings to Trump tweets

Under the tweets, there is now a link that guides users to a Twitter moments page with fact checks and news stories about Trump's unsubstantiated claims.

Twitter said that the move was aimed at providing "context" around Trump's remarks, CNN reported. Twitter's decision is likely to raise further questions about its willingness to consistently apply the label to other Trump's tweets. Twitter said that Trump's tweets about mail-in voting did not violate the company's rules because they do not discourage people from voting. But, the company said, the label offers context surrounding the US President's claims.

"These tweets (here and here) contain potentially misleading information about voting processes and have been labelled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots," Twitter spokesperson Katie Rosborough told CNN Business in an email.
"This decision is in line with the approach we shared earlier this month," Rosborough said.

The Twitter policy forbids sharing "false or misleading information intended to intimidate or dissuade people from participating in an election or other civic process." While it has previously flagged tweets conveying misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, it has never before put warnings on tweets for any other reason.

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'Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH'

Trump replied on Twitter, accusing the platform of interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election and insisting that as President, "I will not allow this to happen."

Earlier in May, Twitter announced it would start to label misleading information, which the company says it’s been applying to key topics, starting with 5G conspiracies, and now, civic integrity and voting. Previously, Twitter has already deleted tweets from Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and Venezuela’s President Maduro in which they endorsed unproven treatments for COVID-19.

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(With agency inputs)