• Home
  • About Team
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

GoSportTimes

  • Money
  • Entertaiment
  • Industry
  • Science
  • Sports
  • World Media

Twitter also fact-checks China official on coronavirus

  • by Nick Cohen
  • in Industry
  • — May 30, 2020
Share:

Facebook mints money as users engage with viral misinformation.

The White House press secretary was asked by a reporter during Thursday's briefing whether Trump's focus on alleged widespread fraud involving mail-in balloting is laying the groundwork to cast doubt on the outcome of November's presidential election.

Vice President Mike Pence convened the White House coronavirus task force on Thursday for the first time in a week.

The text of the order was not immediately released.

The president has criticized Twitter this week for posting fact-checking labels on his tweets for the first time, on the subject of expanded voting by mail, which the president opposes.

If Facebook and Twitter executives were hoping Democrats would work as a buffer to the President's criticism, those hopes were dashed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who voiced her own concerns about social media's role in the upcoming election.

Senator Ron Wyden, the highest-ranking Democrat on the finance committee, said he had always been warning the Trump administration might make such a move "in order to chill speech and bully companies like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter into giving him favorable treatment".

Trump's order would remove a crucial liability shield for social media platforms under the Communications Decency Act if they censure or edit content. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects such platforms from liability because they are considered forums for sharing ideas, rather than traditional publishers responsible for content.

"But it's been stretched and I don't know of anyone in Capitol Hill who doesn't agree that it's been stretched beyond its original intention", he said. Today, Trump proved me right. In an apparent concession, Twitter fact-checked two tweets posted in March by China Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian, in which he peddled the baseless conspiracy theory that the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was started by the US military.

Mr Trump, who personally relies heavily on Twitter to verbally flog his foes, has long accused the tech giants in liberal-leaning Silicon Valley of targeting conservatives by fact-checking them or removing their posts.

A day after Twitter's fact-check flagging of two Trump posts drew the President's ire, he opened the day tweeting - "This will be a Big Day for Social Media and FAIRNESS!"

Twitter then lazily added the exact same screenshot of the Reuters article, which includes a number of links to articles dismissing the possibility the virus had originated from anywhere other than the wild.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey arrives at the Elysee Palace to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, June 7, 2019.

"Social media companies that engage in censorship or political conduct can not keep their immunity", Trump said in signing the order, flanked by Attorney General William Barr.

"We're fed up with it", Mr. Trump said of actions by social-media companies that he said express a "viewpoint".

For years, Twitter and Facebook have enjoyed a healthy rivalry: They've competed for acquisitions, talent and advertising dollars, and sometimes gone so far as to copy each others' features in the never-ending pursuit to grow their audiences.

"We always knew that Silicon Valley would pull out all the stops to obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters", Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement.

Though the timing might be coincidental, Tuesday's move by Twitter came on the heels of a series of tweets from Trump promoting a baseless conspiracy theory that MSNBC host and political rival Joe Scarborough was responsible for the death of a Congressional intern nearly two decades prior.

The president has complained about Twitter's efforts to combat manipulative and abusive content by deleting fake profiles - leading to a decline of hundreds of thousands of users in his follower count. "There are two models here", she said.

Still, the debate has exposed a rift among Silicon Valley tech giants, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticising Twitter's decision in an interview with Fox News. "I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online", Zuckerberg said.

"But in general, I think a government choosing to censor a platform, because they're anxious about censorship doesn't exactly strike me as the right reflex there", he said in the interview that aired on Thursday. "More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions".

Share:

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

  • Sonic Movie Sequel Is Already in Development
  • 'Unfair and unnecessary' to quiz top officials in Cummings row, says Johnson
  • Rain postpones second NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte to Thursday
  • YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...

    • Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra promo renders revealed 1/24/2021
    • Cyberpunk 2077 - Patch 1.1 Now Available 1/24/2021
    • The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 comes out swinging on Geekbench 1/24/2021
    • Xbox Live Gold prices won’t increase, announced Microsoft after gamers show anger 1/24/2021
    • Celebs React To JoJo Siwa Coming Out As Gay 1/24/2021
    • Samurai Shodown coming to Xbox Series X/S in March 1/24/2021
    • PM Modi visits Kolkata, to participate in Bose’s birth anniversary celebrations 1/24/2021
    • Microsoft brings its affordable Surface Laptop Go to India 1/23/2021
    • Google Threatens to Shut Search Engine in Australia, PM Morrison Hits Back 1/23/2021
    • Alphabet Shuts Loon Project to Beam Internet From High-Altitude Balloons 1/23/2021

RELATED NEWS

Kylie Jenner Responds After Forbes Questions Her Wealth
Kylie Jenner is in disbelief after Forbes reported that she is no longer a billionaire and is wrapped up in a "web of lies". In response to Forbes , Jenner wrote in a tweet: "i've never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER".
5/30/2020

NHL's return to play plan officially ends Sabres' season
But if things change dramatically and we have the ability to go back to the home markets, [the National Hockey League will]. The league will instead attempt to move forward with 24 teams given a path to make a run at the Stanley Cup.
5/30/2020

Trump Threatens Twitter After It Labels His Tweets "Potentially Misleading"
It's no secret that Roth and other social media enforcers have a left-leaning bent. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on Trump's Thursday tweet.
5/30/2020

Weather concerns complicate plans for SpaceX’s next attempt to launch NASA astronauts
Technically, SpaceX could make an attempt on the first day, and try again on the second day if weather forced a scrub . The forecast for Sunday is slightly better, with a 60% chance of acceptable weather as opposed to Saturday's 50%.
5/30/2020

OH adds another 42363 unemployed last week; national total nears 41 million
IWD said more than $104 million in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits were paid between May 17 and May 23. Another 2.1 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday morning.
5/30/2020

Premier League to restart June 17
Those two matches are set to be played first as they are the two remaining games in hand to be played in the league. The planned kick-off times in the United Kingdom for live matches will also differ from the traditional times.
5/30/2020

France revokes decree authorising use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19
The medicine was being tried and looked at in several other countries as a potential treatment for COVID-19, Paul said. The WHO had said on Monday that it was halting clinical trials on the anti-malaria drug because of safety fears.
5/29/2020

Antibody tests wrong half the time — CDC
Thus, antibody test results may not definitively indicate the presence or absence of current or previous COVID-19 infection. However, most FDA-authorized tests have a positive predictive value somewhere between 80 percent and 100 percent.
5/29/2020

Twitter CEO Dorsey stands by flagging Trump tweets with fact-check warning
US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on social media firms on Thursday, the White House has said . Trump subsequently said on Twitter that the platform was "interfering in the 2020 presidential election".
5/29/2020

Trump's Mockery of Wearing Masks Divides Republicans
The stand-off played out as the United States surpassed a jarring milestone yesterday in the coronavirus pandemic: 100,000 deaths. Mr Trump retweeted a photograph of Mr Biden and an accompanying message that mocked the former vice president for wearing a mask.
5/29/2020

    • Top picks

      • SBA approves 60,000 more PPP loan applications for over $5B1/22/2021
      • Nokia 1.4 complete configuration leaked: 4000 mAh battery, 6.51-inch screen1/22/2021
      • Apple might be working on a VR headset1/22/2021
      • Porsche expands Taycan range with sub-$200k entry model1/21/2021
    • Weekly News

      • Acer launches new Chromebooks featuring LTE and 20-hour battery life1/21/2021
      • MediaTek unveils new 5G processors1/21/2021
      • LG may finally be done with the smartphone business1/21/2021
      • Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 870 5G SoC With A 3.2GHz CPU1/21/2021
    • Latest News

      • Resident Evil Village release date and PlayStation 5 trailer has been revealed1/23/2021
      • Google to revamp split screen mode in Android 121/22/2021
      • PM announces launch of 3G, 4G internet in South Waziristan1/22/2021
      • Gov. Cuomo proposes tax credits for theatrical productions in NY1/22/2021
    • Home
    • About Team
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us

    Sunday 24 January 2021

    © 2021 GoSportTimes. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.