Trump was quick to react to this development as he tweeted, ‘Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!’
Official Twitter account of US President Donald Trump on May 26, 2020, with two tweets by the president under which Twitter posted a link reading "Get the facts about mail-in ballots". - Twitter labelled two of Donald Trump's tweets misleading on May 26, a first for the social media network which has long resisted calls to censure the US President over his frequent abuse, insults and false claims. Trump's tweets contended without evidence that mail-in voting would lead to fraud and a "Rigged Election." (Photo by - / AFP)
President of the United States Donald Trump, known for his spontaneous tweets, attacking his political rivals and media organisations, has been fact-checked by Twitter for the first time on Tuesday.
In a tweet sent on Tuesday, Trump levelled some serious allegations against the mail-in-ballot system of voting ahead of presidential elections due this year. Trump said, “Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed.” The statement was made without presenting any evidence or fact.
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….living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, will get one. That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote. This will be a Rigged Election. No way!
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— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
Twitter has now added a link reading “Get the facts about mail-in ballots” under his tweets, that guides users to a Twitter “moments” page with fact checks and news stories about Trump’s unsubstantiated claims.
Trump was quick to react to this development as he tweeted, “Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!”
….Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
However, this is not the first time Twitter has taken action against a political leader regarding misinformation. On March 29, 2020 Twitter removed two tweets by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in which he questioned quarantine measures aimed at containing the novel coronavirus, on the grounds that they violated the social network’s rules.
The far-right leader had posted several videos in which he flouted his government’s social distancing guidelines by mixing with supporters on the streets of Brasilia and urging them to keep the economy going.
Two of the posts were removed and replaced with a notice explaining why they had been taken down.
According to AFP, Twitter explained in a statement that it had recently expanded its global rules on managing content that contradicted public health information from official sources and could put people at greater risk of transmitting COVID-19.
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