Twitter has labelled a video tweeted by US President Donald Trump as having “manipulated media” for the first time.
The video shows a black child running away from a white child while playing, with a fake CNN caption.
The caption reads: “Terrified toddler runs from racist baby”, before the video accuses CNN of “fake news”.
Twitter’s decision to place a large warning label on the video is the latest escalation in a row between Twitter and the president.
In late May, Twitter added fact-checking verification notices to the president’s tweets for the first time, following up two days later with hiding some tweets behind a warning.
Mr Trump responded by signing an executive order that seeks to curb the long-standing legal protections of social media firms.
This latest warning is the first time Twitter has used the “manipulated media” warning on one of the president’s tweets – designed to indicate the photo or video has been significantly edited.
It also comes at a time of increased racial tension in the United States and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement.
After the initial shot of the children running, another caption appears: “Racist baby probably a Trump voter.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2020
It then cuts to text promising “what actually happened”, showing the original context of the two children at play – as CNN did in its original report in September of last year.
“America is not the problem. Fake news is,” the video declares before it ends.
But clicking on the prominent warning that Twitter attached to the tweet brings users to a page where Twitter warns: “The president shared a version of the video which many journalists confirmed was edited and doctored with a fake CNN chyron.”
“I think the president was making satirical point that was quite funny if you go and actually watch the video,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Friday.
“The point was it was a play on CNN reportedly taking the repeatedly taking him out of context.”
CNN’s communications department also tweeted back at the president with a terse response.
“CNN did cover this story – exactly as it happened. Just as we reported your positions on race (and poll numbers),” it wrote.
“We’ll continue working with facts rather than tweeting fake videos that exploit innocent children. We invite you to do the same. Be better.”
A watermark on the video in the president’s tweet indicates it was originally made by a pro-Trump Twitter user who goes by the name Carpe Donktum.
“Thanks CNN, you gave my video three top 20 (two top five) trending spots,” he wrote. “I haven’t had this much fun since you freaked out about the Time Magazine cover!”
On Friday, Facerbook removed the same video after a complaint from after one of the children’s parents fielded a copyright claim, CNN reported.
Jukin Media, which owns the rights to the video, said in a statement: “Neither the video owner nor Jukin Media gave the President permission to post the video, and after our review, we believe that his unauthorised usage of the content is a clear example of copyright infringement without valid fair use or other defense.”
According to CNN, the video had more than four million views before its removal.
