Trump threatens to 'close down' social media after tweets tagged

[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to shutter social media platforms after Twitter for the first time acted against his false tweets, prompting the enraged Republican to double down on unsubstantiated claims and conspiracy theories.

Twitter tagged just two of Trump's tweets in which he'd claimed that more mail-in voting would lead to what he called a "Rigged Election" this November.

There is no evidence that attempts are being made to rig the election and under the tweets Twitter posted a link which read "Get the facts about mail-in ballots."

For years, Twitter has been accused of ignoring the president's breaking of platform rules with his daily, often hourly barrages of personal insults and inaccurate information sent to more than 80 million followers.

But Twitter's slap on the wrist was enough to drive Mr Trump into an early Wednesday morning meltdown - on Twitter - in which he claimed that the right-wing in the United States is being censored.

"Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen," he said.

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He dived right back into his narrative that an increase in mail-in ballots - seen in some states as vital for allowing people to avoid crowds during the Covid-19 pandemic - will undermine the election.

"We can't let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots.

"Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!" he wrote.

The president, whose reelection strategy has been knocked off track by the coronavirus pandemic, likewise accused social media platforms of interfering in the last election, saying "we saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016."

REUTERS