Twitter calls out Trump’s tweets
SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter labelled two Donald Trump tweets “unsubstantiated” and accused him of making false claims Tuesday, a first for the social network which has long resisted calls to censure the US president over truth-defying posts.
The move drew a furious response from Trump, who used the platform to accuse Twitter of “interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election.”
“Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!” he tweeted.
The social media giant targeted two tweets the president posted on Tuesday in which he contended without evidence that mail-in voting would lead to fraud and a “Rigged Election.”
Under the tweets, Twitter posted a link which read “Get the facts about mail-in ballots” and which took users to a notice calling the claims “unsubstantiated”, citing reporting by CNN, the Washington Post and other media. “Trump falsely claimed that mail-in ballots would lead to ‘Rigged Election’,” the notice contended.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to close down social media platforms after Twitter labelled two of his tweets “unsubstantiated” and accused him of making false claims.
“Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen,” Trump tweeted.
Twitter targeted two tweets the president posted on Tuesday in which he contended without evidence that mail-in voting would lead to fraud and a “Rigged Election.”
Under the tweets, Twitter posted a link which read “Get the facts about mail-in ballots” - a first for the social network which has long resisted calls to censure the US president over truth-defying posts.
Trump pushed back again on Wednesday saying “we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots.
“Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW !!!! ”
The president also accused social media platforms of interfering in the last election, saying “we saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016.”
“We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that happen again.”
The president has long used Twitter as a platform to spread abuse, conspiracy theories, false information and insults to his 80 million followers.
Before being elected in 2016, he built his political brand by supporting the “birther” lie that Barack Obama, America’s first black president, was not born in the United States and therefore was not eligible to be president.
And he has recently ignited another storm with an attempted character assassination of MSNBC TV host Joe Scarborough by spreading the baseless rumour that he murdered an aide.
YOUTUBE IN ROW OVER CHINA-RELATED POST
YouTube has been deleting comments critical of China’s ruling party due to a software flaw, the company said on Tuesday in response to criticism of the practice.
Users of the online video giant, a division of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, flagged that certain comments posted below videos critical of the Chinese Communist Party were quickly deleted.
“This appears to be an error in our enforcement systems and we are investigating,” a YouTube spokesperson said in an email.
The spokesperson said the issue was not the result of a policy change.
Some comments posted in Chinese language, such as “communist bandit” and “50-cent party,” a derogatory term for the ruling party, were deleted within seconds.
YouTube’s automatic filters eliminate comments that violate company policies.
The Verge reported the issue earlier Tuesday.