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© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Trump threatens social media after Twitter fact-checks him
By ZEKE MILLER WASHINGTON©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
66 Comments
ZENJI
trump. The freak tweeter is running scared now.
The dictator-in-grief will abuse the office he holds to punish those who defy him, offend him in any way shape or form.
Blacklabel
Twitter guy was just talking, now its two changes.
So now fact checks are not necessarily false information, it can just be "disputed".
The fact check was not anything about the fraud of mail in voting being untrue. It was just that people might be confused that they still have to register to vote.
Yeah ok, then. Someone got a call from Zuckerberg, who knows his company will be lumped into this too and wants no part of it.
Strangerland
I hope they ban him the day after Biden takes office.
smithinjapan
What an absolute coward Trump is! And the funniest part is he would cry like the baby he is if Twitter banned him (actually following their own rules), because as we all know he is an egotistical maniac who can't handle not being in the spotlight at all times. How long did he last after saying there would be no more press interviews? Less than a day? I love that he cannot handle the facts, too.
lincolnman
I'm sure its coming...
But, what's your opinion, Trump is saying that the police should investigate Scarborough even though the coroner said it was an accident and Scarborough was in another city? Do you agree with Trump?
And what do you think about Coulter saying Trump is a "jack^&* and a big baby?"
Blacklabel
meh. investigation ongoing by John Durham.
You have to wait for the results of the investigation, like we had to wait 3.5 years for nothing from Mueller.
Trump tweeted yesterday that Obama SPIED on him and his people, so that is part of the accusation.
Blacklabel
He is just using the liberal media trick of accusation by question.
Did Michael Flynn commit treason? is Michael Cohen going to flip? Is Trump a puppet of Russia? Did Robert Mueller find obstruction of justice? Lets find out!
Exactly what the TV media did every night. and when these things didnt happen they just claimed they were only questioning it and saying it needed to be investigated. Now Trump is using their tactic against them.
Blacklabel
yet there is no "fact check" on that tweet. why not?
lincolnman
There is a clear reason Trump's tweets should be fact-checked and censored...they're nothing except hate-speech;
The medical examiner found that the death was accidental, due to a heart problem that caused the aide to fall and hit her head on a desk, and no evidence has ever emerged to suggest otherwise. Nor has Trump supplied any.
Scarborough was in Washington, D.C., nearly 800 miles away, when the body of Lori Klausutis, 28, was found July 20, 2001, in Scarborough’s district office in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Utterly despicable...it says so much more about Trump than it does about Scarborough...
Strangerland
To be fair, that's what the fake-news MSM is saying. He's just repeating their fake-news.
PTownsend
Have your sources at your organization, maybe one of the internet research agencies they get instructions from, instructed you to start spreading this? Maybe a better audience would be readers of Breitbart/RT/Sputnik/infowars, the usual alt right publications
Blacklabel
Jan 2025 is the likely date for that. Then its Mike Pounce's turn.
Hung Nguyen
Given Trump's latest behaviour, I wonder when the American people – regardless of race and party affiliation – will say enough is enough to this idiot.
Blacklabel
Its how they frame themselves every time they go to Congress for oversight.
they have the unwanted attention of the FCC Commissioner now:
"They've gone to Congress time and time again, and represented under oath that they don't engage in partisan political bias," Carr said. "And then we see conduct like this, just a regular business practice."
Strangerland
Well, that's what the fake-news MSM is framing it as.
Strangerland
Twitter didn't arbitrate the truth.
It just put out some facts, so others can decide themselves.
When republicans see facts, they react like a vampire when someone opens the curtains in the morning.
I think you should fact check Biden too.
Let's bring accountability to the leaders.
But of course republicans are freaking out about the idea of accountability. That destroys their ENTIRE game plan.
Blacklabel
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act gives a lot of legal protections to these "platforms".
These can be revoked if these platforms only one to censor/fact check/shadowban people of one political group, or if they continue to act in a biased manner.
Let see what happens, but Twitter definitely messed up to get in this position.
Blacklabel
Zuckerberg knows what this really means. Twitter was a platform.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/05/27/zuckerberg-criticizes-twitter-for-fact-checking-trump-tweets/#6d81e8316f7a
lucabrasi
He looks pretty desperately ill in that picture.
Strangerland
It's a good thing, that during a pandemic, Trump is taking care of this twitter problem.
Of course, the only person it's a good thing to is Trump, since this Twitter thing is another great "squirrel" he's been able to call out to his dogs.
Strangerland
Neither does Twitter.
It's a platform.
Blacklabel
we will find out tomorrow what the executive order says.
It has been well known for years that Twitter and Facebook were allowed to be classified as platforms when they really werent. It appears that will now change, because Twitter fell right into the trap of trying to "fact check" as false a public policy argument that is debatable.
Strangerland
This is interesting to see where it goes though. Trump signs an executive order, removing the independence of the social networks. The social networks take it to court, it goes to the supreme court, and the supreme court sides with Trump, since he's stocked it in his favor.
Now the companies have a choice - remain in the new China, where there is not freedom of speech, and fact-checking is forbidden, or relocate to other countries, and either withdraw from America, as Google did in China, or operate in America under restrictive government regulation. Unfortunately, this would be crippling for American innovation.
Just as the world is recommend pulling out of China, due to mistrust of the CCP, this could be where the powerful companies of the world pull out of America, due to over-regulation and government interference.
But at least Trump won't be fact-checked anymore.
PTownsend
But his followers have said they don't care about his ethics or morality. Cult of personality, after all.
PTownsend
That's a bold statement, one expected to be backed by acts. Has a court ruled that, or are you expressing your personal opinion.
Blacklabel
not anymore. they messed up. A platform does not editorialize or create its own content.
Strangerland
They're a platform, not a publisher.
PTownsend
Keeping it binary, the focus by Trump backers 'he can do no wrong'.
Binary approaches, limiting issues to one pole or its opposite doesn't do much for discussion, does it. But then discussion has never been anything Trump nor his backers have ever encouraged.
Strangerland
The American people should be ashamed for fact-checking their president.
Ashamed.
Blacklabel
again, the focus only on "we hate Trump".
While missing the actual point of what this all means for Twitter if they are considered a publisher and not a platform. What impact will an executive order have on social media as far as liability and regulation when they are considered a publisher?
sunfunbun
In the world of Trump, fact is meaningless as lies are used to the degree of nearing 20,000 in his office term. The blurring of what is factual is with intent, so narrative can be created is a Trump and conservative MO.
Many of us want facts to at least be attempted to be a priority by the president, and if he can't do so, he shouldn't be president. Twitter just got fed up with all his lies.
lincolnman
Well, we know one Tweet that will have to be censored....when Donald sees this he'll have a huge orange meltdown...
*Ann Coulter addressed her weekend criticisms of President Donald Trump Tuesday, telling the Daily Caller’s podcast everything came about after she *“saw this jackass tweets by our jackass president.”
*“At 4:30 in the morning Saturday night — well, technically, Sunday morning — I went on Twitter for the first time in a while and *I saw this jackass tweet by our jackass president being a big baby blaming Jeff Sessions for the Russia investigation once again, something that was entirely, 100% his fault,”
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ann-coulter-doubles-down-trump-175356352.html
Wow....first it was "“the most disloyal actual retard that has ever set foot in the Oval Office.” Now "jackass being a big baby"...
From conservative-world's most beloved icon yet....
Better hope the ambulance is on standby at the WH...
GW
trump.....what an embarrA$$ment to humanity!
Arrrgh-Type
Let's side aside the claim that Trump can "shut down" Twitter, which is ridiculous on its face. [To the poster that said the President "allows" a publicly-owned American company to operate: I strongly suggest that you get a grip.]
-Trump has over 80m followers. He couldn't ask for a better platform. He's tweeted, at times during his presidency, more that a hundred tweets per day. If this is him being "silenced" by social media, I'd be interested to see what being "unsilenced" is like.
-If it's so bad and unfair, why doesn't he boycott it? The answer, of course, is that he can't. He needs it.
-Brad Pascale [mentioned in this very article] has bragged publicly about how Facebook was used to highly target ads to likely Trump supporters in the run up to the 2016 election. Rest assured, they will do the same thing this year. He knows how important social media is to his campaign.
Bottom line is, Trump and his allies need social media. They can't exist in their current form without it.
SuperLib
Its funny to hear these threats from Trump fans all because he was fact checked.
The Avenger
Ted Lieu
@tedlieu
US House candidate, CA-33
Dear
@realDonaldTrump
: The First Amendment stops the government—that’s you—from interfering with free speech. That means you can’t stop
@Twitter
from fact checking your false tweets. And the fact that we’re reading your excrement on Twitter shows it is not stifling your speech.
lincolnman
Hate speech has to be controlled - and that's all that emanates from Trump's gutter-filled Twitter feed...
It's a direct reflection of what's inside his head - the dark, disgusting place of a very disturbed individual...
Texas A&M Aggie
Don't think Twitter thought this through. By including a link from a "fact checker" and standing behind the content of the link to the President's comment about mail-in voting, Twitter crossed the line from being a social media forum to a publisher; meaning they are removed from the current legal liability shields that until Tuesday they enjoyed.
stormcrow
A hundred thousand dead Americans and Trump is hop-skippin' mad at Twitter?
Well, at least we know where his head is at, and it ain't with the people he was sworn to protect.
bass4funk
That is correct and they’re not. But twitter and most media forums could care less about opposing views, they will delete anything THEY find as offensive or inappropriate or off topic, now if all of these platforms were conservative driven and they would block liberals, we all know what would happen. Who fact checks the “fact checkers?”
Blacklabel
The person at Twitter in charge of determining if something is factual tweeted that there are "actual Nazis in the White House" among other false statements. So how is this person considered a factual, unbiased arbiter of truth?
PTownsend
Like Trump, many of his backers have lost any credibility they might have had. Fractals, after all.
Blacklabel
The whole Twitter fact check thing fell apart as soon as the personal tweets of their main "fact checker" (Head of Integrity) were published and shown to be non factual and having liberal bias.
Sneezy
Trump supporters, May 28, 2020: allowing businesses to regulate themselves is bad, actually.
PTownsend
Trump doesn't 'allow' businesses to operate: the US Constitution and market forces do.
And how might it change? To be similar to what MbS, Xi, Kim and other dictators allow, or more of a 'partial' freedom like Putin.
Why do the alt right hate capitalism and the principles the republic's built on. SMH
hachikoreloaded
A government leader who wants to shut down companies etc...sounds like Germany between the mid 1930's -40's
Blacklabel
Twitter messed up. They know there is a difference between "platform" and "publisher". By doing what they did, they have become a publisher. Which has a whole different set of responsibilities, rules and regulations under law.
Even Zuckerberg has already said that they should not have done this, and that he wont be doing it at Facebook. Let me guess, now Zuckerberg is a Trump supporter too? No, he just knows that Twitter messed up.
The Avenger
Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from accountability.
Trump's welcome to leave Twitter if he doesn't like them fact-checking his lies.
Ah_so
I've no idea. But if you're interested you can find out for yourself.
Haaa Nemui
I’m more interested in any truth they might have found.
Serrano
Probably. After all they do have 18,000 lies and falsehoods to choose from.
I'm talking about this tweets that got fact checked. Anything false there?
ulysses
100,000 dead in America and our beloved president, trump is more concerned about Twitter fact checking his lies.
Good to see someone has their priorities right!!!
plasticmonkey
If Trump shuts down Twitter, where will he go to tweet?
More hot air for his base to inhale.
SimondB
Probably. After all they do have 18,000 lies and falsehoods to choose from.
Serrano
So, did twitter find anything false?
PTownsend
They have a market they're trying to reach. A risk of one of the commercial media controlling messages is they might restrict trolls paid to flame and the troll might lose work, which could increase unemployment in the troll's nations. Most likely a nation with a poor economy.
The far right complaining about one 'medium' have dozens of other media options they could use to continue spreading their messages. Or they could come up with better commercial alternatives to the one they're attacking. Instead of whining.
PTownsend
Trump doesn't want to be the 'president' and abide by the Constitution. He wants to undermine the rights of the free, for-profit press. He wants all power for himself.
He wants to control media like leaders in China, North Korea, Russia (only 'partly' of course), Saudi Arabia, Iran and other states under authoritarian's powers.
He looks at despots he envies called 'Supreme Leader' and wants the same title and powers.
He has zero regard for the nation, and never has had even the slightest concern about anyone except perhaps his children, each getting richer while daddy's in the White House.
100,000+ dead from the virus, the economy severely damaged and all he cares about is himself.
Only_In_Japan
The man is a lunatic. If only he had better competition, we might see the end of his insufferable stint as POTUS.
David Varnes
LOL. I never would have thought that the President of the United States would be so thin-skinned and immature as to throw a tantrum over a blue exclamation point and link underneath his Twit-spew.
Meanwhile, he flat out lies about a dead woman, alleges murder, and the posts aren't taken down. If anything, Trump's getting handed favor after favor by social media, who have allowed him to lie constantly, bully, and engage in just about every behavior that goes against the Terms of Service.
But Trump's thin-skinned, almost a gentle little snowflake who doesn't want his feelings or his ego bruised.
Too bad.