Twitter said Wednesday it plans to expand its rules against misleading information about mail-in ballots and early voting, a move that could have major implications for the social media platform’s handling of tweets by President Donald Trump and his allies.
The company told POLITICO it’s exploring ways to broaden its policies against misinformation about mail-in voting to cover a wider array of posts, including those that contain more general mischaracterizations about the process. And the platform, which like other major social media companies has helped its users register to vote in past U.S. elections, said it plans to focus its registration efforts for 2020 on mail-in and early voting.
The planned policy change, the details for which are still being ironed out, comes as Republicans have clashed with Twitter over its handling of posts by the president containing unsubstantiated claims about mail-in voting. Trump and his allies have used the site to stoke fears that voting by mail will result in widespread voter fraud. Twitter has placed fact-checking labels on a number of the posts, which it said ran afoul of its rules on civic integrity.
“Twitter is working hard to increase informed participation in democratic processes around the world,” Twitter's vice president of public policy for the Americas, Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, said in a statement. “Ahead of the 2020 US Election, we're focused on empowering every eligible person to register and vote through partnerships, tools and new policies that emphasize accurate information about all available options to vote, including by mail and early voting."
Policies under fire: Twitter has drawn plaudits from Democrats and rebukes from Trump and other Republicans for adding labels to some of the president’s tweets in which he alleged that mail-in ballots for the upcoming elections are likely to be highly fraudulent. Independent fact-checkers have disputed those assertions, as have some top officials in the Trump administration.
But Twitter has declined to add labels to some other Trump tweets targeting mail-in voting, including a May 24 post in which the president wrote: “The United States cannot have all Mail In Ballots. It will be the greatest Rigged Election in history. People grab them from mailboxes, print thousands of forgeries and ‘force’ people to sign. Also, forge names. Some absentee OK, when necessary. Trying to use Covid for this Scam!”
The seeming discrepancies have sparked confusion and some criticism from the left over the company’s handling of election misinformation.
What’s next: Twitter said users can expect to see the platform roll out its new election-related policies, tools and resources over the next month.
The company said the planned focus on mail-in and early voting is aimed at addressing the challenges posed by holding an election during the historic Covid-19 pandemic. That push will also include expanding the voting tools and resources the company provides to its users.
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