Twitter to flag posts that prematurely call races on Election Day

Posts that try to prematurely claim victory as Election Day votes are counted will be slapped with a warning label, Twitter says.

The social media platform also warns it will delete posts calling for violence or other election disruptions in a blog post on its newest election security measures.

“We do not allow anyone to use Twitter to manipulate or interfere in elections or other civic processes,” the post reads.

The new policy calls for warning labels on posts that try to claim victory while results are still in doubt. It normally takes several days to tabulate results in some states, and a surge in early voting and mail-in ballots may create additional delays this year.

“People on Twitter, including candidates for office, may not claim an election win before it is authoritatively called,” the post reads.

Either an announcement by state election officials or a public projection by at least two authoritative national news outlets will be required to call a race, according to Twitter.

“We’ll be prioritizing the presidential election and other highly contested races where there may be significant issues with misleading information,” a Twitter Support post on the changes says.

A preview posted by Twitter shows a warning label saying the covered post includes inaccurate information about the outcome of the race.

President Donald Trump has reportedly told insiders that he plans to claim victory in his re-election contest against former Vice President Joe Biden if he appears to be ahead on election night, Axios reported.

Twitter also warns it will remove posts that incite violence or interference with the election.

Twitter earlier announced plans to downplay inaccurate information posted by candidates, campaigns and U.S.-based accounts with more than 100,000 followers.

Other posters must click through a warning label to see misleading posts on those accounts, and they are only able to quote them — not retweet, like or reply to them. Twitter’s algorithm downgrades those posts so they are seen by fewer people.

And when someone tries to share a post labeled by Twitter as misleading, they are prompted to read more credible information before being allowed to proceed.

This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Twitter to flag posts that prematurely call races on Election Day."