Skip to main content

Twitter placed a 'public interest notice' on Trump's tweet that peddled unsubstantiated claims about ballot drop off boxes

* Twitter on Sunday placed a "public interest notice" on a tweet President Donald Trump sent earlier in the day in the latest example of the platform fact-checking his tweets. * Just after 7 a.m. on Saturday, Trump tweeted unsubstantiated claims about ballot drop off boxes, which have been implemented by states to allow residents to drop off mail-in ballots without relying on the postal service. * "We placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy for making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting," Twitter said. * After Twitter began to flag some of Trump's tweets in May, he joined other conservatives in calling social-media platforms biased against conservatives, and he signed an executive order to regulate Twitter and similar companies. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Twitter on Sunday placed a "public interest notice" on a tweet sent by President Donald Trump earlier in the day that claimed without evidence that "Mail Drop Boxes" for ballots would lead to voter fraud and carry a risk of coronavirus transmission. "So now the Democrats are using Mail Drop Boxes, which are a voter security disaster," President Donald Trump tweeted just after 7 a.m. Sunday. "Among other things, they make it possible for a person to vote multiple times. "Also, who controls them, are they placed in Republican or Democrat areas?' he continued. "They are not Covid sanitized. A big fraud!" The president has been a staunch opponent of state efforts to expand vote-by-mail to encourage voters to cast a ballot without needing to vote in-person due to the coronavirus pandemic. To assuage voters' concerns about voting by mail amid the ongoing public crisis facing the postal service, states have expanded locations that allow voters to drop off their ballots rather than sending them via USPS. "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity, the warning that now appears over Trump's tweet read. "However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible." The White House declined to comment on Saturday. "We placed a public interest interstitial on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy, for making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting," a Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider. "We've taken action given the Tweet violates our Rules, but have kept the Tweet on Twitter because it is important that the public still be able to see the Tweet given its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance." While users will be able to share the tweet by using the "Retweet with Comment" feature, users will no longer be able to retweet, like, or reply to the tweet, which Twitter said was standard for the notice it placed on the president's tweet. There is little evidence to suggest that there is a heightened risk of voter fraud relating to mail-in ballots. According to a report from Reuters, one in four voters voted by mail in the 2016 election. Trump and over 20 people in his administration or who are otherwise close to him have voted or tried to vote by mail in recent elections, Business Insider previously reported. In June, Trump's campaign for reelection filed a lawsuit against the state of Pennsylvania to stop it from implementing drop-off locations, arguing state officials had "sacrificed the sanctity of in-person voting at the altar of unmonitored mail-in voting and have exponentially enhanced the threat that fraudulent or otherwise ineligible ballots will be cast and counted in the forthcoming general election," the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. In May, Twitter began to place notices over some of Trump's tweets after years of criticism that the platform did not do enough to combat the president's misinformation or tweets that otherwise violated Twitter rules. The president and other Republicans have claimed that social media companies, like Twitter, are biased against conservatives. Days after Twitter began to offer the sporadic fact-checking of his tweets, Trump signed an executive order that empowered federal regulators to amend a statute giving social-media companies, like Twitter and Facebook, the broad authority to moderate speech on their platforms, Business Insider previously reported. First Amendment experts questioned Trump's authority to regulate or shut down social-media companies that he disagreed with.   SEE ALSO: Facebook is laying the groundwork to stop Trump from using its platform to delegitimize the 2020 election results Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Why thoroughbred horse semen is the world's most expensive liquid
https://bit.ly/34pMG0F

Popular posts from this blog

PayPal parts with top advertising executive after shifting its marketing strategy during the pandemic

* PayPal's chief creative officer Steve Simpson, its top advertising executive, left the company after about a year. * The move came after PayPal shifted its marketing strategy during the coronavirus pandemic, placing less emphasis on the brand and more on catering to small businesses, said a source with direct knowledge of the marketing operation. * Simpson's departure followed that of CMO and former Apple executive Allison Johnson in May. Both "decided to leave PayPal" as the company streamlines its global marketing functions, according to a PayPal spokeswoman. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. PayPal's highest-ranking ad executive Steve Simpson left earlier this month after just over a year as part of a restructuring of its global marketing business. Simpson, who was chief creative officer, was hired to make high-minded ad campaigns to help PayPal stand out from competitors like Square, Stripe, and Apple Pay. But this strategy chan...

TikTok confirms it will sue the US government, alleging Trump failed to provide 'due process' before issuing ban

* TikTok confirmed Saturday that the company planned to sue the US government over President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the popular app. * A company spokesperson said TikTok experienced "a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses." * TikTok, which has surged in popularity over the past year, was known as Musical.ly until it was purchased by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2017 and renamed. * The president on August 6 and August 14 signed executive orders targeting TikTok.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. TikTok on Saturday announced it plans to sue the US government over President Donald Trump's executive orders pertaining to its ownership, arguing the company was deprived of its due process rights. The president, who began targeting TikTok in July, issued an executive order August 6 making it illegal for American compani...

A pair of former champions headline UFC Fight Night: Munhoz vs Edgar — How to watch

  * UFC Fight Night: Munhoz vs Edgar will be streamed live on August 22, exclusively through the ESPN+ streaming service. * In the main event, former UFC Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will make his debut in the bantamweight division in the 27th match of his UFC career. * With 13 career wins by knockout or submission, 5th ranked Pedro Munhoz is the former Resurrection Fighting Alliance bantamweight champion and one of the UFC division's most formidible fighters. * Prelims are set to start at 6 p.m. ET and the main card is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET. * Every UFC Fight Night event is included with an ESPN+ subscription, which costs $6.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Product Card Module: Monthly Subscription Service Card size: small Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will make his bantamweight debut against #5 ranked Pedro Munhoz in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Munhoz vs Edgar on August 22. Munhoz has dominated opponents in his 18 career wins...