Topline
Twitter will tell every user that voting by mail is safe and secure starting this Monday, the company announced, contradicting President Donald Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting leading up to the November 3 election.
Twitter CEO and cofounder Jack Dorsey addresses students at the Indian Institute of Technology ... [+]
Key Facts
The prompt will sit at the top of every Twitter user’s feed and says, “You might encounter unconfirmed claims that voting by mail leads to election fraud.”
Twitter is also pushing out a second prompt warning users they may come across “unconfirmed claims that a candidate has won their race” because election results may be delayed.
The company says the effort is meant to preemptively combat election misinformation.
The message cuts against Trump’s efforts to decrease confidence in voting by mail by claiming it is fraudulent, though his own campaign has encouraged voting by mail.
There is no evidence that voting by mail results in widespread or systemic fraud.
Key Background
Twitter has already drawn the ire of Trump and Republicans for fact-checking Trump’s tweets about mail-in voting. But the company is under even more scrutiny after its indecisive response to an explosive New York Post story about Hunter Biden based on dubious sources. Senate Republicans subpoenaed CEO Jack Dorsey last week over the issue and plan to question him about anti-conservative bias on the social media network.
Crucial Quote
“#Election2020 is unlike any other in US history. With so many more people voting by mail and potentially delayed results, starting today, we’ll show you prompts in your Home timeline and Search to help you stay informed on these critical topics,” the company tweeted.
