Trump threatens to 'strongly regulate' social platforms after Twitter fact checks his tweet

US President Donald Trump reportedly plans to sign an executive order concerning social media companies, Reuters reported. This comes after Twitter fact-checked some of his recent tweets. On 27 May, Trump tweeted that he would "strongly regulate" or shut down social media platforms before allowing them to "silence conservative voices".

On 26 May, Trump tweeted that mail-in ballots for the upcoming presidential election in November "will be anything less than substantially fraudulent", and that mail boxes "will be robbed, ballots will be forged and even illegally printed out and fraudulently signed". Soon after, Twitter placed a fact-check label on it which said "Get the facts about mail-in ballots". Upon clicking on it, users will be taken to a Twitter Moments page that contains news from sources such as The Washington Post, CNN and NBC News, and fact-checks regarding Trump's claims.

According to Twitter in the Moments page, fact-checkers say there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud. It added that the president "falsely claimed" that California will send mail-in ballots to "anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there." In fact, only registered voters will receive ballots, the page added. 

The move by Twitter, it claimed, is in line with its approach to misleading information which was updated on 11 May. In a blog post, Twitter said it is introducing new labels and warning messages that will provide additional context and information on some Tweets containing disputed or misleading information related to COVID-19. The labels will link to a Twitter-curated page or external trusted source containing additional information on the claims made within the tweet it added. 

"Depending on the propensity for harm and type of misleading information, warnings may also be applied to a tweet. These warnings will inform people that the information in the Tweet conflicts with public health experts’ guidance before they view it," Twitter added.

It also explained that it will take action based on three broad categories:

- Misleading information: Statements or assertions that have been confirmed to be false or misleading by subject-matter experts, such as public health authorities;
- Disputed claims: Statements or assertions in which the accuracy, truthfulness, or credibility of the claim is contested or unknown;
- Unverified claims — information (which could be true or false) that is unconfirmed at the time it is shared.

Separately, Twitter recently shifted its account from Golin to The Hoffman Agency. The agency has been tasked with building Twitter’s brand presence in Singapore, and will serve as the Asia hub for Twitter’s communications efforts in markets across the Asia Pacific region, with a specific focus in both corporate and consumer relations.

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