Social media firm Twitter has updated its warning labels for election misinformation to declare Joe Biden as president-elect.
Prior to the update reflecting Joe Biden as the winner of the US presidential election, Twitter placed warning labels on claims of of election fraud as "disputed." The new labels read: "Election officials have certified Joe Biden as the winner of the U.S. Presidential election."
New labels in place
The new election label is now being used on President Donald Trump's tweet on Saturday, which undermined the election results by saying: "...discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!). There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupted embarrassment for the USA."
Twitter spokesperson Nick Pacilio explained: "Following certification of the results of the 2020 US Presidential Election, we've updated our label to reflect thee latest information."
The initiative follows increasing criticism that social media companies are not doing enough to address misinformation in the post-election period.
Despite reporting that it labeled around 300,000 tweets for content that was disputed or potentially misleading during the two weeks to the election, Twitter is still being criticized due to the amount of false claims that divide the people on its platform.
Previous election labels
Last November, Twitter flagged President Donald Trump’s tweet claiming his rivals are trying to steal the US elections. "We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!" Trump’s tweet reads.
Twitter placed a warning over the tweet, saying "Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process." It also put a link to "learn more" about its civic integrity policy.
President Trump published another tweet saying "I will be making a statement tonight. A big WIN!".
Meanwhile, Facebook did not block such messages but placed warning labels on both.
For Trump’s post saying the opposition is trying to steal the elections, Facebook also placed a message saying "Final results may be different from initial vote counts, as ballot counting will continue for days or weeks."
On the other hand, the president’s claim for a big win, the label read "Votes are being counted. The winner of the 2020 US Presidential Election has not been projected."
Back in October, Twitter also revised its Hacked Materials Policy, which initially blocked users from sharing an article link about Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
Under the policy, Twitter users were initially prohibited from sharing materials gathered through hacking, including the article about presidential candidate Biden and his son.
Twitter’s Legal, Public Policy & Trust and Safety Lead Vijaya Gadde said the policy has been updated so that such content are flagged as containing hacked material, rather than blocked.
However, content that were directly shared by hackers will still be taken down.
