Anupam Chander Profile picture
Georgetown law & technology prof. He/him. https://t.co/phMwv0RyLp. Papers: https://t.co/TeXiGfkh1Y. Book: https://t.co/TA5bbCWqvn

May 28, 2020, 9 tweets

My overwhelming feeling about the Trump #ExecutiveOrder on social media is that ... 100,000 people have already died in the United States from a virus that would have been better contained by a more competent government. But not only is the EO a distraction, it is dangerous...

President Trump is preparing for more election manipulation--leading to misleading tweets that Twitter will continue to warn users about. Trump is planning to call election results themselves into doubt with his claim of illegal ballots. This is not new.

In 2016, he claimed a "million" illegal ballots were cast in California (he was trying to claim that he won the popular vote, despite the facts). politifact.com/factchecks/201….

In 2018, he repeated that claim. npr.org/2018/04/05/599…

In 2012, he suggested that Pres Obama's reelection was somehow fraudulent because of the electoral college, calling for a march on Washington: "Lets fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice!"

He tweeted, "This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy!" abcnews.go.com/Politics/donal…

Targeting Twitter is a version of working the refs. He's both trying to bully Twitter into a more cautious approach and trying to undermine Twitter's credibility among his fans.

He's also firing a warning shot across the bow of Twitter's peers, who are hopefully considering following Twitter's lead. Twitter has a narrower business than its main social media competitors.

Its competitors are facing antitrust reviews and possible privacy actions--and may not be willing to incur the possible ire of regulators. (Of course, any enforcement premised on the speech of the subject would violate the 1st Amendment.) /end

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