US president and prolific tweeter has been slapped with a fact-check label for the first time.
The tweet in question discussed mail-in ballots, which are in the works to be used for this year’s US election.
In the tweet, Trump suggested there is “NO WAY (ZERO!)” that such ballots “will be anything less than substantially fraudulent”.
“This will be a Rigged Election,” he continued in a second tweet.
There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed. The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
Both tweets have been marked with a warning from Twitter, stating “Get the facts about mail-in ballots”.
Clicking on the warning takes you to a page which says Trump’s claims are “unsubstantiated”. The page identifies each false claim made and explains why they are incorrect.
Despite significant pressure to do so in the past, this marks the first time Twitter has ever added a fact-check warning to one of Trump’s posts.
Twitter has previously faced criticism for allowing incorrect claims to spread on the network without intervening.
Last year it announced it would label tweets from political figures that breach the site’s rules, rather than deleting them.
“There are certain cases where it may be in the public’s interest to have access to certain Tweets, even if they would otherwise be in violation of our rules,” said Twitter in a statement.
“On the rare occasions when this happens, we’ll place a notice – a screen you have to click or tap through before you see the Tweet – to provide additional context and clarity.”
The move to mark Trump’s latest tweet as false appears to be the enforcement of this policy, nearly a year after it was first announced.
Twitter has also upped its stance on misinformation in recent weeks as COVID-19 continues its spread.
Last month it introduced a new policy saying it would label or provide warnings about COVID-19 misinformation.
