Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 10 March 2020

Edited Biden video portends social media challenges in 2020

By AMANDA SEITZ and DA- echoed many of the Re-
VID KLEPPER publican attacks on Biden.
Associated Press "Any 'Democrat' who aligns
CHICAGO (AP) — As former themselves with Trump by
Vice President Joe Biden's amplifying his disinforma-
drive for the White House tion," Bates said, "will soon
gains momentum, the learn that they can't beat
77-year-old's political op- the vice president with
ponents on both the right wild-eyed lies, either."
and left have launched Identifying, labeling and
an internet campaign sug- removing false claims or
gesting he's not mentally edited videos is emerging
or physically equipped to as a key challenge to tech
serve — sometimes using platforms that have been
altered content and other criticized on both sides of
disinformation to make the political spectrum.
their case. Twitter's decision to mark
The effort prompted Twit- the Biden video as "ma-
ter on Monday to mark a nipulated media" was the
video of Biden shared by first test of a new policy of
President Donald Trump as labeling and — in some
"manipulated media" — cases removing — manipu-
but only after it had been Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign stop on Monday, March 9, 2020 at Berston lated images designed to
viewed millions of times. Field House in Flint, Mich. mislead. But even that ef-
Facebook added warning Associated Press fort failed to take hold for
labels to the video and re- dia. "We're going to see a speech in St. Louis. post. Different versions of some social media users
duced its distribution on its lot more of it, and we need Sanders' campaign man- the video were quickly because of a technical er-
platform after news orga- the platforms to get this ager, Faiz Shakir, pointedly shared by Twitter accounts ror, a Twitter spokesman
nizations fact checked the right." noted on Twitter that his affiliated with Trump's cam- said Monday. It declined to
video on its site. The Associ- All in their 70s, Biden, Sand- 78-year-old boss had three paign Saturday night over say whether it had labeled
ated Press works with Face- ers and Trump have faced campaign events on his a three-hour period, noted other versions of the edited
book as a third-party fact questions about their schedule that day, "each Gideon Blocq, the CEO of video.
checker. stamina or mental acu- speaking engagement VineSight, a tech company Trump allies blasted Twitter's
The episode highlights the men, though each has extending for close to an that surfaces misinforma- decision to label the edited
challenges social media produced letters from phy- hour." tion online. video as "manipulated."
companies face in con- sicians attesting to his fit- Later in the day, Trump Combined, the various Trump legal adviser Jen-
taining the rapid spread of ness for office. Sanders — tweeted a misleadingly ed- versions of the edited clip na Ellis called criticism of
misleading information and who, like Biden, would be ited video clip from Biden's were watched more than the edited video, which
raises questions about how the oldest president ever 15-minute stump speech in 10 million times by Monday she also shared, "insanely
prepared the companies elected — suffered a heart Kansas City, Missouri. afternoon. dishonest" on Twitter. She
are for a likely onslaught of attack last year. Biden has During the speech, Biden The Biden campaign re- said people are missing
disinformation during the long had a penchant for appeared to stumble over sponded to the video with the point: "The point is the
2020 campaign. It also un- verbal miscues throughout his words when he said: incredulity and noted that gaffe. DUH."
derscores that trafficking in his political career. And "We cannot win this reelec- the former vice president Liberal and pro-Sanders so-
misinformation is not limited Trump has directly tried to tion -- excuse me, we can has kept up a whirlwind cial media accounts have
to one political party: Both combat questions about only reelect Donald Trump schedule in recent weeks. been promoting the idea
Sanders' and Trump's back- his mental fitness, tweeting if, in fact, we get engaged The supposed evidence that Biden is in "cognitive
ers aggressively promoted in 2018 that he is a "very in this circular firing squad of his decline, they noted, decline" on YouTube, Face-
the unsubstantiated notion stable genius." here." comes from public ap- book and Twitter in recent
that Biden is in cognitive The unproven claims about Conservative and pro- pearances with voters and days.
decline. Biden's fitness for office Trump social media ac- reporters present. A two-minute video mon-
"This is the worst kind of have emerged from the counts first seized on the "It's revealing that Donald tage of Biden's gaffes on
misinformation — it can left and right with increas- gaffe Saturday evening, Trump and his campaign the campaign trail titled
impact a presidential elec- ing frequency following sharing a fuller clip. But keep admitting, through "Joe Biden's sharp cogni-
tion, and it's being shared the former vice president's White House social media their reliance on desper- tive decline (please share,
by the president with mil- sweeping victories during director Dan Scavino later ate smears, that they can't voters need to know)"
lions of followers," said Jen- last week's Super Tuesday shared a further edited beat Joe Biden with the has been viewed nearly
nifer Grygiel, a Syracuse contests. And they accel- version in which Biden ap- truth," said Biden spokes- 300,000 times since it was
University communications erated after Biden returned pears to say: "We can only man Andrew Bates. posted to a "populist" news
professor who studies disin- to the campaign trail reelect Donald Trump." Bates added a dig at Sand- and commentary YouTube
formation and social me- on Saturday with a brief Trump retweeted Scavino's ers supporters who have page on Saturday.q