Microblogging site Twitter has announced new rules that prohibit users, including candidates, to make advanced victory claims in the upcoming US election.
According to Twitter, it will add a warning label to any tweets claiming victory before a clear projection of the US election. The announcement follows a similar move by Facebook in September.
New policies on US election
Under the new policies, Twitter will only allow users to claim a result if an announcement has been made by state election officials or if two "authoritative", independent national news outlets released their projection.
In addition to receiving a warning label, users reading tweets that falsely claim a win will also be directed to the platform's official US election page.
Aside from banning premature claims to victory, Twitter will also temporarily change the way retweets work by requiring users to "quote tweet" and put in their own thoughts about the quoted statements before spreading the message.
I users fail to add their own thoughts, it will appear as a normal retweet.
Twitter explained: "Though this adds some extra friction for those who simply want to retweet, we hope it will encourage everyone to not only consider why they are amplifying a tweet, but also increase the likelihood that people add their own thoughts, reactions and perspectives to the conversation."
This temporary change will be implemented from October 20 "until at least the end of election week".
The social media company has also decided to remove any tweets that incited interference with election results, "such as through violent action".
In a blog post, Twitter wrote: "Under this policy, we will label Tweets that falsely claim a win for any candidate and will remove Tweets that encourage violence or call for people to interfere with election results or the smooth operation of polling places."
The firm previously mentioned election results as one area covered by its new civic policies which it launched in September, but the new announcements appear to be stricter.
Facebook's election policies
Earlier this month, the social media giant announced new types of political ads related to the 2020 US election that are banned from the platform.
Several days after it banned political ads that prematurely declare winners in the 2020 US presidential election, Facebook will now also prohibit ads that seek to "delegitimize any lawful method or process of voting".
The tech firm’s decision follows concerns raised regarding claims that postal voting could encourage fraud. Facebook has also taken down ads sponsored by US President Donald Trump and his supporters, which claim that accepting refugees would increase COVID-19 infection risk.
The said ads depicted Trump’s Democratic opponent Joe Biden talking about the US border and asylum seekers. Before these posts were removed, hundreds of thousands of people have seen over 38 versions of the ads.
Rob Leathern, director of product management at Facebook, tweeted: "As we get closer to Election Day we want to provide further clarity on policies we recently announced. Last week we said we’d prohibit ads that make premature declarations of victory. We also won’t allow ads with content that seeks to delegitimize the outcome of an election"
"For example, this would include calling a method of voting inherently fraudulent or corrupt, or using isolated incidents of voter fraud to delegitimize the result of an election," Leathern explained.
He mentioned: "These changes apply to ads across Facebook and Instagram, and are effective immediately."
