In the hours just before US Election 2020, Twitter and Facebook flagged a post by US President Donald Trump in which he calls Supreme Court’s decision on voting in Pennsylvania “very dangerous” and claims about potential violence. US Apex Court just last week had permitted to extend the deadlines for receiving mail-in ballots during November 3 in Pennsylvania and North Carolina states that can contribute to Trump’s re-election. This decision by the court let stand a ruling by Pennsylvania’s top court allowing mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received up to three days later to be counted.
However, this angered the Republican leader who has repeatedly questioned the integrity of mail-in ballots and recently indicated that he is readying his lawyers for November 3. Trump took to his social media accounts and baselessly claimed that the decision by Supreme Court is “very dangerous one” and that it will lead to “rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine” US laws. He added, “It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!”
But Twitter and Facebook quickly flagged the post on their respective platforms to prevent the spread of misinformation of baseless claims to spread like wildfire. While Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook attached a link about voting information and said the mail-in or in-person voting is safe in the US, Jack Dorsey’s Twitter said that Trump’s post shows “disputed content” and that it “might be misleading”. These actions by social media websites came in line with various measures taken to ensure the safety of US citizens and maintaining peace just hours before the election.
