Twitter has flagged another tweet by Donald Trump for “making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting”. This is yet another debacle in the ongoing, almost perpetual feud between the president and the social media company, which has seen attacks launched from both ends of the battlefield.
So now the Democrats are using Mail Drop Boxes, which are a voter security disaster. 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? They are not Covid sanitized. A big fraud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2020
The president, without any evidence, tweeted that ballot boxes “make it possible for a person to vote multiple times” and that they are “not COVID sanitized.”
Twitter said that the tweet will remain visible to everyone due to “its relevance to ongoing public conversation”. However, users will not be able to retweet, like, comment, or reply to it. The ‘retweet with comment’ option is still available.
Per our policies, this Tweet will remain on the service given its relevance to ongoing public conversation. Engagements with the Tweet will be limited. People will be able to Retweet with Comment, but not Like, Reply, or Retweet it. pic.twitter.com/USuaRr5ING
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) August 23, 2020
In addition to the aforementioned tweet, Trump said something similar about mail-in ballots on Facebook as well, noting that “The greatest Election Fraud in our history is about to happen. This may top the Democrats illegally spying on my campaign!” However, Facebook has not yet taken any action about this post.
This is not the first time that Twitter has flagged one of the president’s tweets. In May, the platform flagged Trump’s tweet with the words “When the looting starts, the shootings starts,” for glorifying violence. This infuriated the president, who then threatened to shut down social media companies and signed an executive order that aims to take away the legal protections that shield them from liability for what gets posted on their platforms.
In May, Twitter labeled two of Trump’s tweets which “spread misinformation” about mail-in voting. Another instance is when Twitter briefly banned Trump’s re-election campaign account for posting an interview of Trump saying that children were “virtually immune” to coronavirus. For these same reasons, Trump has long complained that Twitter is anti-conservative.
Experts suggest that mail in ballots are a safe way to vote a very small margin for error. The reason for Trump’s hatred against mail-in ballots, as CNN suggests, is just “groundwork so that Trump never has to admit defeat if he winds up losing to former Vice President Joe Biden in the fall.”
