Twitter applied its new “manipulated media” label for the first time on Sunday to a deceptively edited video of former vice president Joe Biden. The video was shared by White House social media director Dan Scavino and retweeted by President Trump.
The video was the first test of a new policy the social media company implemented March 5 totweets that contain manipulated or synthetic media, ranging from edited videos to more sophisticated examples known as “deepfakes” that can fabricate events that never happened.
In this case, the altered video of Biden — who has surged to the front of the Democratic presidential race to face Trump in November — is based on a speech he gave Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. It was then shared on Twitter by Scavino, only edited to make it appear as if Biden inadvertently endorsed Trump for reelection.