Twitter Founder and CEO Jack Dorsey took to his site on Thursday morning in response to US President Donald Trump’s threat of shutting down the social media site for questioning the authenticity of one of Trump’s tweets.
Taking responsibility for the ‘fact check’, Dorsey tweeted, “Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that’s me. Please leave our employees out of this. We’ll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. And we will admit to and own any mistakes we make.”
Twitter has in the past been the source of fake news peddling in several countries including the United States and India. Dorsey himself has faced a lot of criticism for the same. Acknowledging this, Dorsey said, “This does not make us an “arbiter of truth.” Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions.”
In response to Trump’s tweet, Dorsey said that they were updating the US President’s tweet into making people think they don’t need to register to get a ballot (only registered voters receive ballots) under the Civic Integrity Policy. “We’re updating the link on @realDonaldTrump ’s tweet to make this clearer,” Dorsey tweeted.
According to the policy, “You may not use Twitter’s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress participation or mislead people about when, where, or how to participate in a civic process.”
Twitter considers civic processes to be events or procedures mandated, organized, and conducted by the governing and/or electoral body of a country, state, region, district, or municipality to address a matter of common concern through public participation. Some examples of civic processes may include:
Political elections
Censuses
Major referenda and ballot initiatives
Violation of this policy
Twitter said it prohibits 3 categories of manipulative behaviour and content under this policy:
Misleading information about how to participateYou can’t share false or misleading information about how to participate in an election or other civic process. This includes but is not limited to:
Misleading information about procedures to participate in a civic process (for example, that you can vote by Tweet, text message, email, or phone call in jurisdictions where these are not a possibility);
Misleading information about requirements for participation, including identification or citizenship requirements; and
Misleading statements or information about the official, announced date or time of a civic process.
Suppression and intimidationYou can’t share false or misleading information intended to intimidate or dissuade people from participating in an election or other civic process. This includes but is not limited to:
Misleading claims that polling places are closed, that polling has ended, or other misleading information relating to votes not being counted;
Misleading claims about police or law enforcement activity related to voting in an election, polling places, or collecting census information;
Misleading claims about long lines, equipment problems, or other disruptions at voting locations during election periods;
Misleading claims about process procedures or techniques which could dissuade people from participating; and
Threats regarding voting locations or other key places or events
False or misleading affiliationYou can’t create fake accounts which misrepresent their affiliation, or share content that falsely represents its affiliation, to a candidate, elected official, political party, electoral authority, or government entity.
Earlier, Twitter put a warning label under two posts by Donald Trump, prompting the US president to accuse the popular social media platform of "interfering" in the presidential election scheduled in November.
Twitter highlighted two of Trump's tweets on Tuesday that falsely claimed mail-in ballots would lead to widespread voter fraud in the elections, appending a message the social media giant has introduced recently to fight misinformation or unverified claims.
"There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Main-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.....," Trump tweeted.
Twitter's notification displays a blue exclamation mark underneath the two tweets, suggesting readers "get the facts about mail-in ballots".
Trump, who has some 80 million followers on Twitter, responded by tweeting again, saying the social media company "is completely stifling free speech". "Twitter is now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election. They are saying my statement on Mail-In Ballots, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect, based on fact-checking by Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post....," a visibly upset Trump tweeted.
