ADVERTISEMENT

Twitter Puts Warning Label on Nikki Haley's Tweet But Lets Ayatollah Slide

Getty Images
November 13, 2020

Twitter slapped a warning label on a tweet from former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley arguing that "election fraud does happen," but the social media platform has looked the other way at tweets from Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei denying the Holocaust.

The social media platform placed a "disputed" label on Haley's statement that "Despite what the media tells us, election fraud does happen, and policies like ballot harvesting and mailing ballots to people who don't request them makes it easier." The label links to a series of fact checks that do not address Haley's claim about ballot harvesting.

Haley pushed back on the move, pointing to Twitter's refusal to label tweets from Khamenei, who as recently as last month used the platform to spread misinformation about the Holocaust.

"Why is it a crime to raise doubts about the Holocaust? Why should anyone who writes about such doubts be imprisoned while insulting the prophet (pbuh) is allowed?" Khamenei tweeted on Oct. 28.

The perception among conservatives that Twitter unfairly suppresses conservative speech has elicited blowback from the right: A New York Times report Wednesday chronicled the departure of thousands of conservatives from the platform to alternative social media sites like Parler, Newsmax, MeWe, and Rumble.

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.