And doesn't like it at all. A couple of stories here. First, Twitter is fact-checking Trump, from WaPo via Joe.My.God. (WaPo's story is behind a paywall.)
Better late than never -- Twitter should have been doing this a decade ago.
And do I expect this to make any difference to Trump cultists? No, of course not.
Trump, however, is not happy, and his reaction is way over the top. Again, via Joe (Joe's post is quoting from Axios, but the link goes to Business Insider. I did find the Axios story, though.):
Like I said, over the top -- fact-checking a habitual liar is now interfering in the election and "stifling" free speech. Like his followers, Trump has no clue as to what the Constitution actually guarantees in regard to freedom of speech -- which is simply that the government can't censor you. And as "conservatives" are so fond of pointing out, private entities are not bound by that.
And of course, the campaign weighs in:
He's panicking.
Twitter on Tuesday slapped a fact-check label on President Trump’s tweets for the first time, a response to long-standing criticism that the company is too hands-off when it comes to policing misinformation and falsehoods from world leaders.
The move, which escalates tensions between Washington and Silicon Valley in an election year, was made in response to two Trump tweets over the past 24 hours.
The tweets falsely claimed that mail-in ballots are fraudulent. Twitter’s label says, “Get the facts about mail-in ballots,” and redirects users to news articles about Trump’s unsubstantiated claim.
Better late than never -- Twitter should have been doing this a decade ago.
And do I expect this to make any difference to Trump cultists? No, of course not.
Trump, however, is not happy, and his reaction is way over the top. Again, via Joe (Joe's post is quoting from Axios, but the link goes to Business Insider. I did find the Axios story, though.):
President Trump responded via tweets Tuesday evening to Twitter fact-checking him for the first time on his earlier unsubstantiated posts claiming mail-in ballots in November's election would be fraudulent.
What he's saying: "Twitter is now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election.They are saying my statement on Mail-In Ballots, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect, based on fact-checking by Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post," the president tweeted. "Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!"
Like I said, over the top -- fact-checking a habitual liar is now interfering in the election and "stifling" free speech. Like his followers, Trump has no clue as to what the Constitution actually guarantees in regard to freedom of speech -- which is simply that the government can't censor you. And as "conservatives" are so fond of pointing out, private entities are not bound by that.
And of course, the campaign weighs in:
We always knew that Silicon Valley would pull out all the stops to obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters. Partnering with the biased fake news media ‘fact checkers’ is only a smoke screen Twitter is using to try to lend their obvious political tactics some false credibility.
He's panicking.
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