Twitter Amends Flag from ‘Official Sources Called This Election Differently’ to ‘Multiple Sources Called This Election Differently’

In mid-November 2020, Twitter updated one of its election information flags, changing the wording from the uncertain-sounding, “Official sources called this election differently” to the even less forceful, “Multiple sources called this election differently.”

That particular flag was perhaps most widely seen in November 15 and 16 2020 tweets by United States President Donald Trump, in which he falsely stated that he was the true winner of the election:

As seen in the embeds above, Twitter’s November 17 2020 label said, “Multiple sources called this election differently.” Initially, the tweets were labeled “Official sources called this election differently”:

A November 16 2020 Business Insider article reported on the first “official sources” flags, citing the source of projections:

In reality, Business Insider and Decision Desk HQ have projected the Joe Biden has won the election, with 306 votes in the electoral college to Trump’s 232. In Georgia, Biden beat Trump by a margin of about 14 thousand votes, and in Pennsylvania, Biden beat trump by a margin of about 69 thousand votes, according to Business Insider and Decision Desk HQ.

In addition, Twitter has flagged over 25 of Trump’s tweets as disputed or potentially misleading since Friday [November 13 2020].

Posts to TheDonald.win addressed Twitter’s change to how the attempted election interference was flagged. One November 16 2020 comment claimed that the change took place shortly before midnight on that day:

Two hours ago it said “Official Sources”

They ninja changed it to say “Multiple Sources” several hours after the tweet went out.

They’re playing us for fools.

Official reporting from news organizations such as ABC covered the initial flag (“Official sources called this election differently”):

Twitter and Facebook have both slapped a misinformation label on some content from Trump, most notably his assertions linking voting by mail to fraud. On Monday, Twitter flagged Trump’s tweet proclaiming “I won the Election!” with this note: “Official sources called this election differently.”

CBS also covered the flag in a November 16 2020 article:

President Trump falsely and flat-out claimed in an all-caps tweet late Sunday [November 15 2020] night that he won the election. The tweet was quickly flagged by Twitter, which said, “Official sources called this election differently.”

The tweet culminated a day in which Mr. Trump worked to take back an apparent acknowledgement that Joe Biden had won the White House.

Salon.com reported on the “Official sources called this election differently” label on November 14 2020, embedding two November 13 2020 tweets. Those embedded tweets later reflected the changed flag, showing “Multiple sources called this election differently”:

It is true that Twitter’s original label was changed, which was easily checked against previous screengrabs. Updated labels read “Multiple sources called this election differently.” However, Twitter did not offer an explanation for the change. We contacted Twitter for comment on changes to those flags, but we have not yet received a response.