Facebook, whose tolerant policy towards political messages is widely criticized in the run-up to the presidential poll, added a briefing note to a post by Donald Trump on Tuesday accusing mail-in voting of promoting corruption.
The intervention of the social network does not censor the words of the American president and does not question them, it simply consists of a link to a government site which explains how voting by mail works according to the states.
“Postal voting, unless called into question by the courts, will lead to THE MOST CORRUPTED ELECTION in the history of our Nation! #ELECTIONTRUCKEDDonald Trump said on Twitter and Facebook Tuesday morning.
Twitter did not link back to fact-checking articles on the topic, as it did in late May for a similar post from the president.
The platform’s decision, a first, had aroused the anger of the host of the White House, who had signed a decree to restrict the leeway of social networks.
Facebook had chosen not to intervene. But under pressure from civil society, some employees and a boycott campaign from many advertisers, the network giant has pulled out of its binary policy of withdrawal or laissez-faire.
The platform announced at the end of June that it could now add warnings to problematic posts, but left online in the name of their “interest in being known to the public“.
The networks have always displayed the protection and encouragement of voter turnout as a top priority.
But the approach of the US presidential election in November crystallizes the tensions.
The pressure for better regulation of content on platforms has been increasing since 2018, when the scandals of 2016 were revealed, when major polls were targeted by powerful campaigns to manipulate public opinion via social networks.
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