Top US democrats have called for Twitter to suspend Donald Trump’s account for spreading conspiracy theories and repeatedly flouting rules about misinformation during the US elections.
Twitter placed warnings on six of the US president’s tweets in the space of 24 hours after voting closed and results began to be announced on Wednesday.
Mr Trump claimed that his lead in many key states had “magically” disappeared, tweeting that it was “VERY STRANGE”.
Another tweet baselessly stated: “They are trying to STEAL the Election.”
Twitter placed warnings on the posts, explaining, “Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about how to participate in an election or another civic process.”
Twitter’s policies prevent the US president’s account from being suspended or removed but Democratic members of Congress urged the social media platform to prevent Mr Trump from tweeting more until after the result is announced.
“Right now, the President’s Twitter account is posting lies and misinformation at a breathtaking clip,” tweeted Congressman David Cicilline.
“It is a threat to our democracy and should be suspended until all the votes are counted.”
Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly tweeted: “Suspend his account, @Twitter. This is pure disinformation. Valid votes are being counted. This is America, not Russia.”
According to Twitter’s guidelines, Mr Trump’s account currently falls under its “public-interest exceptions” when enforcing rules, as he is an elected politician.
The policy states: “We recognise that sometimes it may be in the public interest to allow people to view Tweets that would otherwise be taken down. We consider content to be in the public interest if it directly contributes to understanding or discussion of a matter of public concern.”
A Twitter spokesperson told The Independent that the company took action against some of Mr Trump’s tweets for making potentially misleading claims about the US election, in line with its Civic Integrity Policy.
The policy also meant that it would significantly restrict engagements with the tweets, meaning far less people would see and share them.
Several other people close to Mr Trump had similar tweets flagged on Wednesday.
One video shared by Eric Trump, the second son of the president, appeared to show someone burning dozens of ballots cast in favour of his father.
“Burning 80 Trump Ballots,” he tweeted.
The video was swiftly debunked by the City of Virgin Beach in a statement posted to its website.
It stated: “A concerned citizen shared a video with us that ostensibly shows someone burning ballots. They are NOT official ballots, they are sample ballots.”
