Analysis: Twitter Censorship Dramatically Cut Trump's Engagement on Election Night

A recent analysis of Twitter’s censorship of President Trump’s tweets reveals how the social media site dramatically cut the President’s engagement rate on election night. The analysis shows that Trump’s post before it was censored “was shared or replied to about 827 times a minute. After it was labeled, that dropped to 151 times a minute, according to the E.I.P. analysis.”

An analysis of President Trump’s engagement rate on the night of the election by the Election Integrity Partnership outlines how Twitter managed to massively cut the President’s engagement rate on election night by censoring certain tweets from the President’s account.

Breitbart News recently reported that President Trump expressed his feelings about a Supreme Court ruling on voting in Pennsylvania in a tweet, which Twitter marked as “misleading.” Trump stated: “The Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania is a VERY dangerous one. It will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!”

The Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania is a VERY dangerous one. It will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2020

Twitter added a label to the tweet which reads: “Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process. Learn more.” Twitter users were also unable to reply to the tweet, favorite it, or share it. Many have resorted to posting screenshots of the tweet to share it with followers.

The Election Integrity Partnership outlined how this affected President Trump’s engagement rate in a series of tweets:

1/5 On the eve of the election, @realDonaldTrump sent out a tweet criticizing a recent Supreme Court decision regarding PA ballot deadlines. His tweet made unfounded claims about the legitimacy of mail-in ballots and the Election, while fomenting fear of violence.

— Election Integrity Partnership (@2020Partnership) November 3, 2020

A graph shared by the EIP demonstrates just how drastic the dropoff in engagement was following Twitter’s censorship:

3/5 Around 40 min later, Twitter took action by hiding the tweet behind an informational label and preventing it from being retweeted. The graph below shows the rate of retweets and quote tweets, which were dramatically reduced after Twitter took action https://t.co/t0w183GgxZ pic.twitter.com/ZN5CwHvTxn

— Election Integrity Partnership (@2020Partnership) November 3, 2020

According to the New York Times’ report on the analysis, “Before Mr. Trump’s tweet was labeled, it was shared or replied to about 827 times a minute. After it was labeled, that dropped to 151 times a minute, according to the E.I.P. analysis.”

4/5 Twitter’s action effectively stopped the tweet’s spread. However, it had already been retweeted 55K+ times and favorited 126K+ times. This is as much or more reach than most other tweets put out by @realDonaldTrump today.

— Election Integrity Partnership (@2020Partnership) November 3, 2020

5/5 As a result, despite effective action within an hour by Twitter, much of the damage was likely already done. As we approach the predicted chaos of tomorrow, it may be wise to increase the pace of moderation, especially around premature projections and claims of victory.

— Election Integrity Partnership (@2020Partnership) November 3, 2020

The EIP is not the only group calling for increased and faster censorship, Lisa Kaplan, the founder of Alethea Group, a company that helps public officials and private clients fight misinformation, commented to the New York Times recently: “Those decisions need to be made a lot more quickly; they should be split-second decisions.”

Analysis: Twitter Censorship Dramatically Cut Trump’s Engagement on Election Night

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