Twitter appears to be so eager to fact-check US President Donald Trump that it does so without bothering to check whether it has all the facts at hand as well. On Monday, we had pointed out that Twitter was peddling misinformation its fact-check of Trump’s claims regarding the US presidential elections. The social media platform had claimed that “official sources” had called the elections for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Since then, Twitter appears to have rectified its fact-check. The label is still there but now it says, “Multiple sources called this election differently”. Clicking on the label takes one to news reports and tweets by journalists and news networks that report that Joe Biden is projected to become the 46th President of the United States.
It was only after ‘fact-checking’ the President that Twitter appears to have realised that the mainstream media is not an “official source” of information on the results of the US Elections and the media has no role to play in the election of the US President. Currently, recounts and law suits are underway across numerous states and the official process is not over yet.
While it is extremely unlikely that Donald Trump will be president for a second term, officially, he is still not out of the race yet. Therefore, when constitutional procedures have not ruled out Donald Trump completely, it is preposterous for social media giants to claim that “official sources” have already called this election.
