This will undoubtedly ignite the ongoing debate about the role of social media platforms in the modern political process.
Earlier today, Twitter added fact-checking notifications to two tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump, in which Trump made several statements about the postal voting process.
These fact-check markers bring users to a Twitter moment that includes more information about ballots in the mail, helping to ensure readers are aware of the facts.
And as you can imagine, President Trump was not very happy to be seconded by the Twitter team:
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President Trump was already considering the creation of a new commission to investigate on social media platforms suspected biases against conservative views. You can bet that he will now be looking to move forward with this – and while Twitter is simply enforcing its rules regarding questionable claims in tweets, it has never done so on Trump’s tweets before. Not when Trump criticized those testifying in his impeachment trial, threatened nuclear war with North Korea, or advocated hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. Twitter has so far avoided taking the next step of provoking Trump and his supporters by clearly labeling such claims as false or imposing suspensions for rule violations.
Now Twitter has floundered. And he looks set to see a lot of turning back as a result.
But it really is the right decision. In this case, Twitter left Trump’s tweets open, allowing the surrounding discussion to continue, which fits with the platform’s long-standing approach that tweets from public figures should be exempt from the regular rules. regarding deletions and suspensions.
It also used its new, more visible labeling on tweets to connect users to more information, if they so choose. There is no definitive statement that the information shared is bogus, it just adds more context for those who might want it – which, in this case, also aligns with the platform’s ongoing approach to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
Of course, Trump and his millions of supporters won’t see it as such, and that may well encourage further division between politically aligned groups. But Twitter has taken an important step – it has established a line even the president cannot freely cross, which many have asked the company to do, repeatedly, over the past four years.
So what’s going on from here? No doubt we’ll be hearing more about Tory bias and the aforementioned new commission to investigate social platforms. There is no doubt that some Trump supporters will also use this as an impetus to move to another social network, where their views are welcome. Will this have a significant impact on Twitter? Probably not, and most likely, any investigation will lead to an app or minimal action against Twitter and other platforms due to perceived bias.
But this is a major step for Twitter. Now he has taken that action, it is shown that he will indeed add alert tags to Trump’s tweets if he sees fit. If Twitter maintains this approach with all world leaders, especially in the run-up to the 2020 election campaign, it could have a significant impact – not only in terms of providing more information to voters, but also in terms of providing more information to voters. which concerns how each group gets its information and updates, and what this means for the future of political understanding.
It’s a much bigger deal than Twitter by adding its “manipulated media”. warning to an edited video of Joe Biden posted by Trump staff members in March. This is a Twitter booth, which could shape its approach going forward.
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