Twitter is planning several measures leading up to Election Day meant to ensure users have access to accurate information about voting by mail, the company confirmed Thursday.
“Twitter is working hard to increase informed participation in democratic processes around the world,” said Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, Twitter’s vice president of public policy for the Americas.
“Ahead of the 2020 U.S. Election, we’re focused on empowering every eligible person to register and vote through partnerships, tools and new policies that emphasize accurate information about all available options to vote, including by mail and early voting” she added.
Twitter users can expect to see the new tools and policies put in place over the next month, according to the company. The presidential election this year falls on Tuesday, November 3.
Politico first reported about Twitter’s plans and the public policy executive’s remarks Wednesday.
Twitter later told The Washington Times it was exploring ways to address challenges prompted by the election taking place during the novel coronavirus pandemic, including likely tackling emerging trends involving mischaracterizations of mail-in voting.
COVID-19, the potentially deadly respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, is highly contagious and therefore presents challenges for holding November’s election like normal.
Democrats and Republicans have subsequently rallied for and against expanding mail-in voting, respectively, with President Trump among the GOP’s loudest critics of the concept.
Indeed, Mr. Trump may very well find himself running afoul of Twitter’s new policies once they are put in place. In a first, Twitter intervened in May by adding a warning label to one of the president’s tweets about voting by mail that was deemed in violation of its rule against sharing “false or misleading information intended to intimidate or dissuade people from participating in an election or other civic process.”
Twitter has since flagged other tweets shared by Mr. Trump for violating the platform’s manipulated media and abusive behavior policies.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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