For the first time, a tweet by President Trump has been marked “Manipulated Media” by Twitter. The video he tweeted depicts a supposedly racist child. However, it turns out that the video has been doctored, hence the “manipulated media” tag.
Twitter and Trump have been in a battle over free speech for some time now. These arguments have even led to Senator Ted Cruz calling for a criminal investigation into the company. This most recent move from Twitter is, therefore, sure to ruffle a lot of feathers.
Trump Tweet Marked “Manipulated Media”
The aim of these “manipulated media” tags is to true and turn people against fake news. By highlighting videos and photos that have been doctored Twitter is trying to tackle the spread of misinformation. The video was first shared by CNN who claimed it used real footage when covering the story.
However, CNN implored the President to “be better” than sharing fake videos. A Twitter spokesperson has been made a comment as reported by Engadget. They said, “This Tweet has been labeled per our synthetic and manipulated media policy.”
Although the tweet has been marked in such a way others can still retweet or share it. The aim is to simply highlight the nature of the tweet rather than censor the speech in any way.
Tweets by President Trump have been marked before by Twitter but this is the first time he has had the “manipulated media” tag put on one of his tweets.
During the BLM protests, Twitter tagged Trump’s tweets for fact-checking and one of removed for inciting violence. This has led to more tense interactions between the company and the President.
Social Media Companies Take Action on Trump
Twitter is not the only company taking action against President Trump. Snapchat has said that it will no longer promote Trump on its discover section. This means users have to search for the President rather than promoting him artificially.
Joe Biden has called on Facebook to tackle fake news. However, Mark Zuckerberg’s company has declined to act against the President.
The company says it wants to promote free speech regardless of its opinion on said speech.
However, Facebook has introduced a voting information hub on its platform. The aim is to encourage users to register to vote. It is also going to provide information on political advertising.
Social media companies are beginning to take action against misinformation and fake news. However, the repercussions such actions against the President could cause problems down the line.