Twitter has flagged a tweet by the Democratic Party chair of Wisconsin as “disputed and might be misleading” for prematurely claiming Joe Biden had won the state ballot in the US Presidential election.
Ben Wikler declared on Wednesday that Biden had “just won Wisconsin,” a battleground state that could be crucial in deciding the overall election outcome.
“Green Bay and Kenosha results are in,” he said, “Biden is now up in Wisconsin by roughly 20,600 votes. That number could wobble a bit, but there’s no realistic path for Trump to pull ahead.”
Wikler also claimed that Biden had won more votes in the state than “any presidential candidate in Wisconsin history.” However, he later issued a correction, saying that the record-holding ticket was Obama-Biden in 2008.
Twitter attached a “disputed” label to his first tweet and a warning that said, “some votes may still need to be counted.” It also linked to its “Civic integrity policy” – a set of guidelines governing election interference and “misleading information.”
The social media platform has courted controversy in recent weeks for its role in the US election, most noticeably with its censorship of the New York Post over a controversial story about Hunter Biden, the son of the Democratic presidential candidate.
Twitter had locked the newspaper’s account over a report about the Biden family’s business dealings but was forced to U-turn on its decision.
The social media giant also unveiled new “disputed” labels for Election Day, which it adds to tweets such as Wikler’s, which “make claims about election results.” Users are unable to re-tweet or like the offending content.
President Donald Trump also had a tweet flagged by Twitter as “potentially misleading” on Wednesday, while a Facebook post by Biden was slapped with a warning after he said: “Keep the faith, guys. We’re gonna win this.”
Wisconsin is yet to declare a winner, although Biden has a slim lead, according to the Associated Press, with 95 percent of votes counted. Among the other battleground states that could swing the election either way are Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina.
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