President Donald Trump is threatening to take action against social media companies following a Twitter fact-check alert for one of his tweets about voter fraud.
Trump took to Twitter with a series of tweets on Wednesday morning as he accused social media platforms of attempting to “silence Conservative voices.”
The president also threatened to close social media platforms over their alleged actions as he claimed the same practices were attempted ahead of the 2016 general election.
“Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices,” Trump tweeted. “We will strongly regulate, or close them down before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that happen again.”
Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
….happen again. Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
Trump’s criticism of social media platforms comes just hours after his tweets about mail-in ballots.
On Tuesday evening, the president tweeted claims where he insisted mail-in ballots would ultimately lead to widespread voter fraud.
“There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent,” Trump tweeted. “Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged [and] even illegally printed out [and] fraudulently signed.”
The president also accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) of sending ballots to illegal immigrants.
There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed. The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
….living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, will get one. That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote. This will be a Rigged Election. No way!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
Twitter spokesperson Katie Rosborough offered insight on the notification in an email to CNN Business. This was the first time Twitter fact-checked the president.
The network claimed the notification was an effort to add context around the president’s remarks as the tweets contain “potentially misleading information about voting processes.”
“These Tweets (here and here) contain potentially misleading information about voting processes and have been labeled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots,” Rosborough said in an email. “This decision is in line with the approach we shared earlier this month.”
….Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
Despite the president’s claims and concerns, mail-in ballots are legal. It is unclear how Trump will proceed with regulatory actions against social media platforms.