Facebook won't label Trump 'mail-in ballot' post like Twitter

Facebook will not apply a label to President Trump's social media post about mail-in ballot fraud.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has supported free speech on the social media platform while simultaneously combatting harmful misinformation after he came under fire in October for changing its policies to allow politicians to run ads that have not been independently fact-checked.

TWITTER ADDS FACT-CHECK WARNING TO PRESIDENT TRUMP'S TWEETS

"We believe that people should be able to have a robust debate about the electoral process, which is why we have crafted our policies to focus on misrepresentations that would interfere with the vote," a Facebook spokesperson told FOX Business.

Meanwhile, Twitter added a fact-check label to the president's Tuesday tweet saying fraud will occur if California lawmakers send mail-in ballots to all voters in the state. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has pushed for voters to use mail-in ballots for the November election due to health concerns associated with the novel coronavirus pandemic.

A Twitter spokesperson said the tweets "contain potentially misleading information about voting processes and have been labeled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots."

The fact-check labels beneath the president's tweets lead Twitter users to a post from Twitter fact-checkers that reads, "... Trump made a series of claims about potential voter fraud. ... These claims are unsubstantiated, according to CNN, Washington Post and others. Experts say mail-in ballots are very rarely linked to voter fraud."

TWITTER CRACKS DOWN ON MISLEADING CORONAVIRUS INFO

The post then lists a series of facts that users "need to know." One of the bullets on the list says Twitter's fact-checkers have found "there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud."

Trump accused Twitter of stifling free speech after applying the fact-check label.

The spokesperson added that Twitter's decision to label the tweets was "in line with the approach" it took earlier in May to make information regarding disputed claims more easily accessible for users.

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Some users have pointed out Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of site integrity who helped create its new approach to labeling misinformation, reportedly has a history of politically biased tweets on his profile.

The different decisions from Twitter and Facebook highlight ongoing disputes over a law aimed at protecting free speech on the Internet in the Communications Decency Act called Section 230. The law shields social media companies from being held liable for users' posts.

Section 230 made it possible for Internet users to essentially post whatever they want on digital platforms without those platforms facing the consequences of providing users with a place to freely express themselves. The law becomes blurry, however, when social media sites help facilitate the spread of false or potentially harmful information.

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