Twitter, Facebook limit spread of Trump ‘up BIG’ post

Twitter and Facebook on Wednesday acted quickly to label a post from President Trump claiming that he is “up BIG” despite former Vice President Joe Biden maintaining an Electoral College edge.

Trump’s post also claimed that “they are trying to STEAL the Election” and that “votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!”

Twitter placed an interstitial label on the tweet warning users that “some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process” and restricted users from interacting with it.

Twitter Safety said that the post violated the platform’s civic integrity policy for “making a potentially misleading claim about an election.” The Hill has reached out to Twitter for clarification on what part of the post violated the policy. 

“We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!” Trump tweeted.

Facebook appended a label simply directing users to the platform’s election hub, which includes up-to-date information about the election. The same label has been appended to Trump’s last dozen posts.

Facebook later updated its label, editing it to say that “final results may be different from initial vote counts, as ballot counting will continue for days or weeks.”

Biden led Trump 215-171 in Electoral College votes at the time Trump posted his tweet.

Both candidates appear to have a shot of getting to 270 electoral votes, the threshold necessary to win the Electoral College.

Both platforms have pledged to label any premature victory declarations. Full election results are likely to be delayed as mail-in and early votes continue to be tabulated in key states.

Trump posted shortly later that “I will be making a statement tonight. A big WIN!”