Twitter Restricts Trump's 'Mail Drop' Tweet, Says President Made Misleading Health Claims

Twitter Inc TWTR restricted yet another of President Donald Trump’s tweets related to mail drop boxes on Sunday, where he claimed Democrats were using such receptacles to perpetrate voter fraud.

What Happened: “So now the Democrats are using Mail Drop Boxes, which are a voter security disaster," the president posted on Twitter Sunday. 

"Among other things, they make it possible for a person to vote multiple times. Also, who controls them, are they placed in Republican or Democrat areas? They are not Covid sanitized. A big fraud!”

The social media platform placed a warning on the tweet, saying, it violated its rules related to civic and election integrity. The company separately claimed the tweet made misleading health claims.

We placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy for making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting. https://t.co/MA6E7mBpkm

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) August 23, 2020

The Jack Dorsey-led firm says it is allowing the president’s post to remain visible on its platform in the “public’s interest.”

Why It Matters:Earlier in the month, Twitter said it was widening the scope of its rules regarding mail-in ballots and early voting.

Trump accused the social media platform of electoral interference in May, after it applied a fact-check label to one of his tweets related to mail-in ballots and voter fraud in California.

The president then went on to sign an executive order to limit the immunity that social media platforms enjoy from legal action arising out of third-party content.

Facebook Inc FB and Twitter have both removed Trump’s posts, citing violation of their respective rules, but the former only began doing so after facing an extensive backlash over its policies related to hate speech.

Price Action: Twitter shares closed nearly 0.8% higher at $39.26 on Friday and gained another 0.2% in the after-hours session.

Photo courtesy: Gage Skidmore on Flickr