DUP leader lodges Twitter complaint over Sinn Fein video

The First Minister and DUP leader has written to the social media companies regarding what she has called a “misinformation campaign” about the Electoral Office for NI.

Earlier this week, Sinn Fein posted a video and with a tweet that claimed: “The British government is planning a mass purge of voters in the North. This is a blatant attempt to suppress the voice of citizens in next year’s historic Assembly election.”

The video was in response to news that the Northern Ireland electoral roll requires to be updated in line with UK-wide legislation.

New rules introduced in 2010 require the register to be updated at least every 10 years, however, this was postponed in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. The canvass will now be carried out between July and December this year.

On Thursday evening, Mrs Foster said: “I have written to Twitter and Facebook regarding Sinn Fein’s misinformation campaign about the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.

“The video was released by Sinn Fein on their official accounts. If permitted by the social media companies, they are complicit in creating and spreading false statements designed to cause confusion and misunderstanding.

“The post deliberately misleads people about the purpose of the update to the electoral roll. The video post depicts a reality which is categorically false.

“Information is being contorted to damage the EONI and manipulate their support base. This misinformation damages the fabric of our democracy by seeking to erode confidence in the organisation which runs our elections.”

Mrs Foster added: The Electoral Office’s actions are designed to stop electoral fraud, yet Sinn Fein’s post is designed to stir tension and undermine a key lever in our democracy.

“The following statements published by Sinn Fein are false and inflammatory. They must be removed or marked as “Misleading Information”.

“The British Govt is planning a mass purge of voters in the North”

“This is a blatant attempt to suppress the voices of citizens”

“The British are planning to suppress the democratic rights of citizens”

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