Donald Trump has once again suggested voting twice, and Twitter yet again tagged his misguided tweet with a warning label for violating rules “about civic and election integrity.”
“To make sure your Ballot COUNTS, sign & send it in EARLY. When Polls open, go to your Polling Place to see if it was COUNTED. IF NOT, VOTE!” Trump tweeted to North Carolina voters Saturday morning.
“Your signed Ballot will not count because your vote has been posted. Don’t let them illegally take your vote away from you!” he concluded.
Twitter slapped a label on it reading, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible…We placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy, specifically for encouraging people to potentially vote twice.”
Its decision was further explained: “To protect people on Twitter, we err on the side of limiting the circulation of Tweets which advise people to take actions which could be illegal in the context of voting or result in the invalidation of their votes.”
It also included a link to a message from the North Carolina State Board of Elections to the state’s voters that pointed out that it is a Class I felony to vote twice in an election. Attempting to vote twice in an election or soliciting someone to do so also is a violation of North Carolina law.
Twitter announced Thursday that it will start labeling or deleting more tweets that share “false or misleading” information on the 2020 election. The expanded policy will target tweets that may “undermine public confidence” in the election process.
Examples of the kind of information it will be taking action against include “false or misleading information that causes confusion about the laws and regulations of a civic process,” disputed claims that “could undermine faith” in the election process — like claims of election rigging and ballot tampering, and misleading claims about election results.
Twitter said it will also take action against tweets that incite “unlawful conduct” that may “prevent a peaceful transfer of power or orderly succession.”
Trump and his campaign have been at odds with Twitter several times in the past, most recently over a manipulated video designed to make it appear that Joe Biden fell asleep during a TV interview that was then shared by a White House adviser.
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