US TVs break from live Trump address due to ‘lies’
Several US TV networks late Thursday halted live coverage of Donald Trump's first public appearance since election night after concluding that the president was spreading disinformation.
Trump unleashed a flood of incendiary and unsubstantiated claims in a 17-minute address, insisting that Democrats were using "illegal votes" to "steal the election from us."
The president spoke as late vote counting in battleground states showed Democrat Joe Biden steadily closing in on victory.
"OK, here we are again in the unusual position of not only interrupting the president of the United States but correcting the president of the United States," said MSNBC anchor Brian Williams, as the network quickly ended its live coverage. NBC and ABC News also pulled the plug on their live coverage of Trump.
Facebook Inc removed the fast-growing "Stop the Steal" group in which supporters of Trump posted violent rhetoric, as it and other companies tackled baseless claims and potential violence after a contentious election.
The group, which called for "boots on the ground to protect the integrity of the vote," was adding 1,000 new members every 10 seconds and had grown to 365,000 members in a day.
But social media companies have been signaling less patience with disinformation and calls for violence. Eleven of the president's 32 tweets since Election Day on Tuesday have been placed behind a warning label saying they were disputed, prompting him to use email and other media to voice his claims, researchers said.
Twitter on Thursday suspended an account used by former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon after he recorded a video in which he called for beheading FBI Director Christopher Wray as well as government infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci for being disloyal to Trump.
A Twitter spokesman cited company policy against glorifying violence.
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