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Summary
- The US election campaigns are in the final phase. After recovering from coronavirus infection, Mr President is again busy with election campaigns.
- Twitter and Facebook have banned a negative article on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, while questioning the article source.
- The social giants have maintained that they are following their existing policies to prevent digital election interference and spread of false viral information.
- Mr Trump and his supporters have reacted angrily to the story ban, and alleged that Mr Biden is a corrupt politician.
With only a few weeks left in the presidential election, all eyes are on the United States as it gears up for 3 November 2020. A high-voltage drama is unfolding in the US with the election campaign process all heated up. Rivals Donald Trump and Joe Biden are busy ramping up their efforts to prove their respective candidacies.
This time, the election is not a usual one, as it is happening in the pandemic-stricken year 2020. The US President and many of his staff members were recently infected with coronavirus. To know more, read here: Both Donald And Melania Trump Tested Positive For Coronavirus
His handling of the infection remains a controversial topic, read here: Trump's casual attitude towards Covid-19 guidelines raises many eyebrows. Post recovering from the COVID-19 infection, he has been busy participating in the campaign process.
Facebook, Twitter Infuriate Mr President by Restricting Biden Article
With the election season in full swing, top social media platforms Facebook and Twitter found themselves mired in a controversy, as they are facing the anger of none other than Mr President Donald Trump himself. To undermine his rival Joe Biden, Mr President is supporting a tabloid story offering alleged proofs of Biden's relationship with an energy company based in Ukraine.
© Kalkine Group 2020
Must read: How is Facebook behaving during this US Elections?
Both Twitter and Facebook have banned the negative article on Joe Biden and his son Hunter by the New York Post. Republican politicians, right-leaning officials and the family of President Donald Trump slammed the move and sought an explanation from the companies for restricting the story.
The Controversial Story: The New York Post report has made new allegations about Mr Biden's official dealings with Ukrainian energy firm, Burisma Holdings. The report cited emails recovered from an abandoned laptop left at a repair centre in Delaware in April 2019.
In the post, the newspaper claimed that the emails were from Hunter Biden, who introduced his father to Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to Burisma's board. At that time, Mr Joe Biden was the vice president of the US. The alleged emails show the Ukrainian energy executive thanking Hunter for the introduction.
Mr Donald Trump has insisted that rival Joe's actions in Ukraine were to benefit Hunter Biden and Burisma. However, Joe Biden's campaign maintains that he did not meet with the Burisma executive while he was the former vice president.
A Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates has issued a statement, confirming that they examined Biden's official schedules from the time and no such meeting ever took place.
Social Media Giants' Explanation: Meanwhile, the social media firms stated that they were following their policies for resisting the digital election interference and wave of false viral information. They said they were acting responsibly for their content and had no interest in being a tool of election campaigns.
Twitter explained the decision in a series of tweets, saying some images of the article include personal information and the story seems to be based on hacked materials. Twitter established the policy to restrict posting hacked material in the year 2018.
Must read: US elections become a target for hackers
Facebook, on the other hand, clarified that the company has questions about the controversial article's validity. It also raised suspicions that the story could be a false one.
President's Angry Reaction
In scathing remarks against his opponent, Mr Trump highlighted that the allegations against Biden were severe and that with these charges of corruption, he should not even be allowed to run for the presidency.
Meanwhile, Senator Ted Cruz from Texas Republican office stated that he had written letters to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, alleging that the companies are trying to influence the US presidential election.
This is not the first time that Mr Donald Trump and Twitter are on the loggerheads. Read here: Trump-Twitter Spat: Is this honking the Share Price of any stock
About Joe Biden
Joe Biden, 77 years, is the former 47th vice president of the United States, and now the Democratic presidential nominee. He is promising to unite the country in an extremely challenging time and willing to build on the Obama legacy. A six-term senator from Delaware first elected in 1972, Mr Biden has served in public life for around a 50-year period.
Also read: Take away from 1st US Presidential Debate, effect on ASX stocks?
This year, the United States has seen it all - pandemic, riots, economic downturn, and rise in unemployment. When the world’s superpower is facing such serious issues, need for an efficient leadership becomes even more critical. While both the rivals are busy in proving the other less effective as a presidential candidate, Americans are more concerned about the real issues affecting them during this challenging period.
