Donald Trump: US President threatens to shut down social media after Twitter’s fact-check move

Donald Trump has promised to take “big action” against Twitter, after it took a dramatic step to bring his tweets into line.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to shut down social media platforms after Twitter flagged his tweets with a fact-check warning.

“Twitter has now shown that everything we have been saying about them (and their other compatriots) is correct. Big action to follow!” he tweeted overnight.

“Republicans feel that social media platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen,” he said.

“We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that happen again.”

“Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!”

Twitter has now shown that everything we have been saying about them (and their other compatriots) is correct. Big action to follow!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020

Warning labels appeared under two of Mr Trump's tweets on Wednesday, with a link to a fact-checked summary of his claims on the social media platform.

The President had called mail-in ballots "fraudulent" and predicted that "mailboxes will be robbed", among other things.

Under the tweets, a link reading "Get the facts about mail-in ballots" now guides users to a Twitter “Moments" page which evaluates the President’s claims and – in this case – explains why they’re unsubstantiated.

There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed. The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020

The move follows years of pressure on the social media platform – which the President famously uses as his preferred communication medium – to stop the spread of misinformation.

Mr Trump hit back at the platform, accusing it of “interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election” and “stifling free speech”.

....Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020

It comes after the President drew intense criticism over a series of unconfirmed tweets suggesting that a television host he has feuded with committed murder.

The husband of a woman who died by accident two decades ago urged Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey remove the tweets suggesting Joe Scarborough, now a fierce Trump critic, killed her.

"My request is simple: Please delete these tweets," Timothy J. Klausutis wrote.

The body of Lori Kaye Klausutis, 28, was found in Scarborough's Fort Walton Beach, Florida, congressional office on July 20, 2001.

Mr Trump has repeatedly tried to implicate the MSNBC host in the death, even though Scarborough was in Washington – not at the murder site in Florida – at the time.

Mr Klausutis, whose wife continues to be the subject of conspiracy theories even today, wrote in his letter that he has struggled to move on with his life due to the ongoing "bile and misinformation" spread about his wife on the platform by the President.

Mr Klausutis said in the letter, sent last week, that his wife had an undiagnosed heart condition, fell and hit her head on her desk at work.

He argued that Mr Trump’s tweets were in violation of Twitter's community rules and terms of service.

“The President of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him — the memory of my dead wife — and perverted it for perceived political gain.

My wife deserves better.”

~TJ Klausutis https://t.co/VD9EPu4jLu

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) May 27, 2020

Medical officials ruled that Lori Klausutis, who had a heart condition and told friends hours earlier that she wasn't feeling well, had fainted and hit her head.

While there was no question of foul play, Mr Trump tweeted this month questioning whether Scarborough “got away with murder”.

When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so. Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn’t it obvious? What’s happening now? A total nut job!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2020

He echoed that "cold case" allegation in a new tweet on Tuesday.

The opening of a Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough was not a Donald Trump original thought, this has been going on for years, long before I joined the chorus. In 2016 when Joe & his wacky future ex-wife, Mika, would endlessly interview me, I would always be thinking....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020

At Tuesday's White House briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeatedly refused to say why Trump was pressing the unfounded allegations against Scarborough or whether he would stop tweeting about them.

Dorsey did not reply directly to Klausutis' letter and has not taken any action on the president's tweets. In a statement, Twitter said it was "deeply sorry about the pain these statements, and the attention they are drawing, are causing the family".

But the company did not say it would do anything about Mr Trump's tweets and did not even mention them directly, although it did reference vague plans for future policy changes.

"We've been working to expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward, and we hope to have those changes in place shortly," Twitter said.

– with AP