# Twitter is going to start fact-checking Trump's tweets **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 26, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515 "2020-05-26T23:25:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/21 "2020-05-27T15:28:41Z")
What the idiots don’t seem to understand is that it isn’t conservatives that are being called out, it is hateful, hurtful and bigoted people. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/22 "2020-05-27T15:59:27Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > What the idiots don’t seem to understand is that it isn’t conservatives that are being called out, it is hateful, hurtful and bigoted people. Sadly the areas of those two circles that don’t overlap have been steadily shrinking in recent years, thanks to those idiots. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/23 "2020-05-27T16:06:06Z")
I wonder how many people voted for Trump by mail in 2016. According to the B.O.C.'s\* logic, all those votes are fraudulent. - Big Orange Cheeto ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/24 "2020-05-27T16:23:02Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I wonder how many people voted for Trump by mail in 2016. According to the B.O.C.'s\* logic, all those votes are fraudulent. Including his own, as I understand he voted twice by absentee ballot. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/25 "2020-05-27T16:45:04Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Including his own, as I understand he voted twice by absentee ballot. Funny how it’s perfectly kosher for him to vote absentee but he wants the states to force people to choose between participating in democracy and avoiding disease. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/26 "2020-05-27T16:58:36Z")
Many military people overseas vote by mail and a lot of them likely voted for Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/27 "2020-05-27T17:06:04Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Sadly the areas of those two circles that don’t overlap have been steadily shrinking in recent years, thanks to those idiots. Coincidentally, yesterday I began a FB post by stating that there is no longer a Venn diagram where “Good people” and “Trump supporters” overlap. ---
**Author:** ![str8cashhomie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@str8cashhomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/str8cashhomie)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/28 "2020-05-27T17:08:12Z")
> [@Mikemike2](#): > > I am thrilled that Trump is being fact-checked. But this might also be playing directly into Trump’s tiny hands. A newscast said that this could be a huge political issue that Trump can play up right into the next election. Conservatives fighting to have their voices heard and all that. It will take attention away from the ongoing fumbling of the pandemic. He always plays everything up. At some point people need to realize (and apparently are) that he’s going to have the same response no matter what so you may as well do things that inherently make sense as opposed to trying not to provoke criticism. The criticism is always the same and it gets taken just as seriously no matter how flimsy the justification. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/29 "2020-05-28T18:29:59Z")
I’ve been reading some articles from left and right leaning sources. The best speculation I’ve seen is that it will target the social media giants’ current immunity from libel and defamation suits because they’re viewed as bulletin boards, not publishers. However, when they actively manipulate content they’ve put themselves in an editorial position and can be held liable. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/30 "2020-05-28T18:35:34Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I’ve been reading some articles from left and right leaning sources. The best speculation I’ve seen is that it will target the social media giants’ current immunity from libel and defamation suits because they’re viewed as bulletin boards, not publishers. However, when they actively manipulate content they’ve put themselves in an editorial position and can be held liable. But won’t that lead to social media giants just preemptively deleting offensive content? Like the President’s tweets? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/31 "2020-05-28T18:56:26Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I’ve been reading some articles from left and right leaning sources. The best speculation I’ve seen is that it will target the social media giants’ current immunity from libel and defamation suits because they’re viewed as bulletin boards, not publishers. However, when they actively manipulate content they’ve put themselves in an editorial position and can be held liable. To ADD a comment suggesting that the reader investigate further is NOT “actively manipulating content”! ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/32 "2020-05-28T21:50:19Z")
Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t have enough relevant background to argue either side of the issue. I’m just speculating the direction I think this is going. We’ll see how it shakes out. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/33 "2020-05-28T22:23:03Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t have enough relevant background to argue either side of the issue. I’m just speculating the direction I think this is going. We’ll see how it shakes out. IANAL, but the one side seems pretty cut and dried to me. They aren’t manipulating the content of anyone’s tweet, they are adding an addendum to it. Trump or whoever can still say whatever they want with no interference aside from possible deletion. I can’t think of what law that violates. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/34 "2020-05-28T23:02:57Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I’ve been reading some articles from left and right leaning sources. The best speculation I’ve seen is that it will target the social media giants’ current immunity from libel and defamation suits because they’re viewed as bulletin boards, not publishers. However, when they actively manipulate content they’ve put themselves in an editorial position and can be held liable. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > To ADD a comment suggesting that the reader investigate further is NOT “actively manipulating content”! Not to mention the fact that all the big social media companies have been ‘doing something’ about content since their inceptions—taking down the Christchurch murder video, taking down overt threats, etc. etc. So the idea that the ‘additional information’ labels are something that radically changes what those companies do, is absurd on its face. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/35 "2020-05-28T23:10:10Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Let’s just pretend (although it won’t happen) that Twitter banned him. > > Where would he go? Facebook? All the kids are on TikTok. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crisstti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Crisstti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crisstti)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/36 "2020-06-02T16:12:45Z")
No problem with huge corporations like Twitter deciding what truth is. Using their (not biased at all of course) sources and fact-checkers. Nothing to see here. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/37 "2020-06-02T16:16:32Z")
> [@Crisstti](#): > > No problem with huge corporations like Twitter deciding what truth is. Using their (not biased at all of course) sources and fact-checkers. > > Nothing to see here. Instead of just driving by, why don’t you let us know next time you’re in the neighborhood and stay a while. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/38 "2020-06-02T16:32:36Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Let’s just pretend (although it won’t happen) that Twitter banned him. > > Where would he go? Facebook? He’d go [here](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump/with-rallies-halted-and-tweets-fact-checked-trump-campaign-turns-to-smartphone-app-idUSKBN2391FT) (Reuters). In fact, he’s already there, along with millions of his supporters. > [@](#): > > Trump’s campaign has been building an alternative channel for him for months, a smartphone app that aims to become a one-stop news, information and entertainment platform for his supporters, in part because of concerns that the president would lose access to the Twitter platform, said his campaign manager, Brad Parscale. > > The Trump app, which was launched in April, has since often placed among the Top 10 in Apple’s rankings of news apps, sometimes above those of individual news organizations such as CNN, the New York Times and Reuters. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/39 "2020-06-03T19:58:18Z")
He’s lost [Snapchat](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/snapchat-to-stop-promoting-trump-after-controversial-posts/ar-BB14ZeMv?ocid=spartandhp), too. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515/40 "2020-06-03T20:41:58Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > He’s lost [Snapchat](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/snapchat-to-stop-promoting-trump-after-controversial-posts/ar-BB14ZeMv?ocid=spartandhp), too. Time for him to sue them, amirite? :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twitter-is-going-to-start-fact-checking-trumps-tweets/854515.md?page=3)