Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is pushing back on some of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s remarks made following the fact-check alert placed on President Donald Trump’s tweet.
The president has accused Twitter of constraining the voices of conservatives. The spark started when Twitter placed a tag for the first time on one of Trump’s tweets where he made claims about potential voter fraud with mail-in voting.
The label on Trump’s tweets from May 26 about mail-in ballots reads, “Get the facts about mail-in ballots.”
“We believe those Tweets could confuse voters about what they need to do to receive a ballot and participate in the election process,” the Twitter Safety account tweeted. “We also wanted to provide additional context and conversation with regard to voter fraud and mail-in ballots. We have a range of remediations, and in some cases we add labels that link to more context.”
While mail-in voting is not totally free from fraud, as The New York Times reports, “such schemes are incredibly hard to pull off undetected,” and casting mail-in ballots is “almost certainly the safest way to vote.”
….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
….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
Facebook’s Zuckerberg told Fox News’ “The Daily Briefing,” “We have a different policy than, I think, Twitter on this.”
He continued, “I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online. Private companies probably shouldn’t be, especially these platform companies, shouldn’t be in the position of doing that.”
However, Twitter’s Dorsey pushed back on Zuckerberg’s comments.
“Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that’s me,” Dorsey tweeted late Wednesday. “Please leave our employees out of this. We’ll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. And we will admit to and own any mistakes we make.”
“This does not make us an ‘arbiter of truth.’ Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions.”
Dorsey also pointed to Twitter’s Civic Integrity policy and noted, “We’re updating the link on [Donald Trump’s] tweet to make this more clear.”
Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that’s me. Please leave our employees out of this. We’ll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. And we will admit to and own any mistakes we make.
— jack (@jack) May 28, 2020
Per our Civic Integrity policy (https://t.co/uQ0AoPtoCm), the tweets yesterday may mislead people into thinking they don’t need to register to get a ballot (only registered voters receive ballots). We’re updating the link on @realDonaldTrump’s tweet to make this more clear.
— jack (@jack) May 28, 2020
Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday on social media platforms, as IJR reported.
“As President, I have made clear my commitment to free and open debate on the Internet,” the draft of the executive order reads. It later adds:
“In a country that has long cherished the freedom of expression, we cannot allow a limited number of online platforms to hand-pick the speech that Americans may access and convey online. This practice is fundamentally un-American and anti-democratic.”
As of now, there are no specific details on what action the order would take.
The draft social media EO also says that online platforms are "engaging in selective censorship that is hurting our national discourse."
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) May 28, 2020
Additionally, the executive order states that online platforms are “engaging in selective censorship that is hurting our national discourse,” as ABC News reporter Katherine Faulders notes.
The executive order comes after the president threatened to “close” down social media platforms on Wednesday, as IJR previously reported.
