‘Misleading:’ Twitter Censors Statement from PA Chair of Election Board

Twitter wants to fight “misinformation,” but instead it censored actual election information from the Board of Elections in Erie County, Pennsylvania.  The platform placed an interstitial, or filter, over a tweet from Mike Coudrey,  entrepreneur and CEO of Yuko Social, which helps people expand their social media presence. Coudrey’s tweet contained a statement from the County of Erie about an investigation into an individual “saying they are working as a part of the Erie County Board of Elections and throwing out ballots.” Coudrey’s tweet said “BREAKING: Chair of Election Board issues statement about the Erie, PA incident where a resident claimed to be a poll worker and destroyed 100 Republican ballots. They also confirm there is now an ongoing investigation to pursue potential criminal charges.” The interstitial stated “Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process. Learn more.” Not only did Twitter place the interstitial on the tweet, but the platform also will not allow users to reply to or “like” Coudrey’s tweet. Users may retweet the post, but only as a quote tweet. Why Twitter decided to censor a statement from an official government source is unclear at this point, given that the platform did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.  Twitter has censored many individuals, including President Donald Trump, in the last 24 hours. In September, Twitter announced that it would “label or remove false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election or other civic process.” Reuters reported that an individual who claimed to be a poll worker in Erie had “announced he had intentionally ‘thrown out over a hundred ballots for trump [sic]’ in the hopes of making Pennsylvania ‘turn blue.’” According to Reuters, the Erie County Board of Elections “confirmed” that the individual in question is not a poll worker. and “is not believed to be a resident of Erie County, Pa.” Conservatives are under attack. Contact Twitter at (415) 222-9670 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

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