According to one Twitter worker, Huckabee is “essentially confessing in a tweet to a crime.”
According to a new “Twitter files” thread, members of Twitter’s 2020 election enforcement Slack channel discussed whether or not to remove a tweet from former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee that included a joke about mail-in votes.
“Early voting today required me to wait an hour in the rain. When I went home, I voted the absentee ballots of my ancestors who had passed away via mail. My friends and family share my political views. #Trump2020, “Huckabee sent a tweet on October 24, 2020.
Twitter staffers discussed whether or not to delete the message in a Slack channel called “us2020 of enforcement,” according to Substack reporter Matt Taibbi.
“Hello, I’m highlighting this tweet so that everyone sees it. Even though it seems like a joke, some individuals could take it seriously. What do you think of this, by the way? “in which a Twitter employee mentions Huckabee’s post and provides a clickable link to it.
During a discussion titled “Twitter files,” the contents of Huckabee’s post were revealed on Friday.
In the Slack channel, Twitter’s former Head of Trust & Safety, Yoel Roth, remarked that while he admits “it’s a joke,” Huckabee is “also actually admitting in a tweet to a crime.”
“Yeah. Removal (of a foolish and ill-advised joke) or nothing. I imagine us taking action under “misleading assertions that generate uncertainty regarding the established rules, regulations, processes, and techniques of a civic process.” Still, it’s not one we could mark helpfully, so removal is. It’s been a while since he tweeted it, and most of the reactions I’m seeing are critical or counterspeech, so I could be tempted not to delete without a report from a voting authority, “As Roth put it.
A Twitter staffer is shown in the screenshot’s final message pleading for the tweet to be ignored.
I could see a justification for our mail-in voting label, but without misunderstanding, I’d also be tempted to leave the joke alone, the Twitter employee replied. “The thrust of the joke seems to be that mail-in ballots are for the fraudulent votes.”