Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

It is a pity both Trump and Twitter can’t lose

It may be the ultimate Kissinger Dilemma: Donald Trump versus the platform that helped make Donald Trump president. Contemplating war between Iraq and Iran, Henry Kissinger is said to have mused: ‘It’s a pity they can’t both lose.’ It’s a pity Trump and Twitter can’t both lose their current skirmish. On Wednesday, the social media publisher that pretends it’s not a publisher attached a fact-check to a Trump tweet. The President had posted:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1265255835124539392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Trump is concerned that ballot impropriety might cost him re-election, rather than his Covid-19 response or the absence of a wall on the Mexican border. Twitter flagged the tweet with a link, ‘Get the facts about mail-in ballots’, which took users to a statement from Twitter, headed: ‘Trump makes unsubstantiated claim that mail-in ballots will lead to voter fraud’. Citing ‘CNN, Washington Post and others’, the statement said Trump’s tweet was ‘unsubstantiated’ and that, according to experts, mail-in ballots are ‘very rarely linked to voter fraud’.

It’s a contest between two sets of authoritarians with an unshakeable belief that the future of the republic depends on silencing their opponents

This was the first time Twitter had taken such a step against a US president. The company said it was enforcing its ‘civic integrity policy’ and that it feared Trump’s tweets ‘could confuse voters about what they need to do to receive a ballot and participate in the election process’. The latter justification is just a little too cute, which shows an awareness that its measures are open to accusations of opinion-policing rather than fact-checking. Twitter also filtered a Trump tweet about rioting in Minneapolis included the line, ‘Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.’ Twitter said the tweet ‘violated their rules about glorifying violence’.

Donald Trump, being a laidback fellow, has naturally taken this in his stride.

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