Topline
Twitter and Facebook once again slapped fact-checks on posts by President Donald Trump on Monday that claimed ballots counted after the election in Pennsylvania would lead to “rampant and unchecked cheating” and “induce violence in the streets.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Key Facts
Trump posted on Facebook and Twitter that a recent Supreme Court decision in which it declined to roll back the state’s extension of the legal deadline for receiving mail-in ballots would result in “rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!”
Twitter put Trump’s post behind a label saying it “is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process.”
Twitter took the same action against a Trump tweet last week claiming "big problems and discrepancies with Mail In Ballots all over the USA,” while Facebook removed a Trump post last month claiming the flu was more deadly than coronavirus.
Facebook also put a label underneath Trump’s post reading, “Both voting in person and voting by mail have a long history of trustworthiness in the US. Voter fraud is extremely rare across voting methods.”
Key Background
Trump has been sowing doubt about mail-in voting for months by erroneously linking it to widespread fraud. In addition to Pennsylvania the Republican Party has been waging an all-out legal battle against mail-in or curbside voting in Texas, Nevada, Alabama, South Carolina and other states across the U.S. The Pennsylvania ballot fight is important, though, because the state is a must-win for Trump. If Trump loses Pennsylvania, FiveThirtyEight predicts Trump only has a 1 in 100 chance of winning the election.
What To Watch For
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg were grilled about labeling posts from conservatives last week by Senate Republicans who claim that social media companies are biased against them. The hearing was about Section 230, a legal provision that ensures tech companies can’t be held liable for the posts on their platforms. Republicans will likely use Monday’s action as further justification for pushing to repeal Section 230. Democrats, too, want reform because they claim social media companies aren’t doing enough to crack down on misinformation and hate speech.
