From COVID-19 to the presidential elections, news networks and social media platforms are constantly fact-checking and clarifying misleading information from the Trump administration.
This amount of fact checking is unprecedented, and social sites like Twitter have taken on new measures to this approach. The platform broadened its policy to, it said, “address content that goes directly against guidance on COVID-19.” In May it created labels and warnings for tweets with misleading information about the virus.
On October 11, Twitter flagged this tweet from President Donald Trump for spreading misleading and potentially harmful information: “A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday. That means I can’t get it (immune) and can’t give it…” Coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci says it’s unclear whether those who have recovered from the virus are immune, confirming Twitter’s misleading label.
Before the election, Twitter updated its policy to include flagging misleading election information.
Since Election Day, Trump has been on a Twitter rant claiming that he won the election in battleground states, that the election was stolen from him and that illegal votes were cast. Twitter placed warning labels on each tweet indicating they contained “false, disputed or misleading information.”
News networks such as CBS and ABC also reported on his misleading tweets and fact-checked them with information from state election officials.
On Nov. 4, Twitter flagged President Trump’s tweet: “Biden votes were being found all over the place.” ABC fact-checked his tweet with a soundbite from Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar. She made it clear those Pennsylvania ballots were mailed in and arrived on time before Election Day.
ABC reported Trump’s “Twitter feed has been dominated with baseless tweets insisting that he won the election and that there is voter fraud all over the country.” Johnathan Karl fact-checked Trump’s claims of fraud and concluded they were untrue. President Trump’s legal team did not provide any credible evidence. At the time of Karl’s report, the campaign had lost or withdrawn from 14 different lawsuits. That number has now grown to over 30.
Variety magazine reported on Thanksgiving Day that Twitter has flagged nearly 200 tweets since election day.
These news networks are also fact-checking Trump’s claims about COVID-19. On October 23, CBS debunked Trump’s claim from his Florida rally that the U.S. is “rounding the corner beautifully” on the virus. The network made it clear that in reality, the country hit a new record of 8.4 million cases.
Outside of fact checking, ABC also held Trump accountable for “lying.” In a press conference correspondent Jonathan Karl asked the president why he lied to the American people about the virus being like the flu when he had told reporter Bob Woodward, in a recorded interview, that the virus was worse than the flu. The network played both sound bites from Woodward’s interview and his statement to the American people, providing viewers the facts and Trump’s false claims.
Despite the fact that the administration calls news outlets “fake news,” they are clarifying misleading information more than ever. Trump constantly makes false statements. News organizations have to include fact-checked information and allow people to develop their own opinions.
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