Protesters demand Twitter, Facebook take more action against election misinformation from Trump campaign

ByCornell W. Barnard KGO logo
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Protesters demand Twitter, Facebook do more to fight misinformation
Protesters and activists rallied outside Facebook and Twitter headquarters Wednesday, demanding more action against misinformation from the Trump campaign.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Social media companies like Twitter and Facebook are trying to combat misinformation and false claims about election results and ballot counting.

A group of activists rallied in front of Twitter's San Francisco Headquarters Wednesday, demanding truth and accuracy from the social media giant during this close US election.

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"We're here at Twitter because Twitter's been a giant megaphone for Trump," said activist Barry Thornton.

Another protest happened outside Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park Wednesday, demanding that Facebook protect election results and stop misinformation from candidates, campaigns and others who declare victory before final election results are in.

On Tuesday, Twitter took action on several tweets by President Trump, which said his campaign was "up big" but "they" were trying to steal the election, or that a large number of ballots had been secretly dumped. Another Tweet suggested election fraud was happening in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

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Twitter labeled the posts as potentially misleading and obscured them from immediate view.

It prompted a response from President Trump: "what is this all about?"

"Twitter has done the best job when if comes to labeling misinformation. It was there with it's labels and when the Trump campaign called states early in its favor," said Former TechCrunch editor Josh Constine.

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Constine says, Facebook has also labeled misleading posts, directing users to its voting information center.

"The social networks must continue the policy of preventing anyone from calling the election early or claiming fraud in the election process because lies spread faster than the truth," Constine added.

With this election so close, the battle between truth and misinformation goes on.

Get the latest stories and videos about the 2020 election here.

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