Donald Trump tweets get browser add-on for accuracy

We all know that US president-elect Donald Trump isn’t exactly a beacon of truth, having won Politifact’s lie of the year in 2015. So it’s no surprise to hear there’s a browser add-on to warn people about his statements.

The Washington Post has issued the RealDonaldContext extension for Chrome, which adds clarity and fact-checking to selected tweets.

“The Washington Post’s Fix team has decided to help ensure that the public receives the most accurate possible information by creating this extension, which will add more context or corrections to things that Trump tweets,” read an excerpt of the extension’s description.

Once you’ve installed the extension, users can simply click on one of Trump’s tweets to get more information. It’s worth noting though that only select tweets seem to get context. After all, I doubt we’d need corrections if Trump said he had bacon and eggs for breakfast…

The Washington Post extension does a solid job of clarifying tweets from Donald Trump

What kind of corrections can you expect as a result?

“If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?” Trump tweeted on 15 December. The RealDonaldContext add-on stepped in here, declaring the tweet “incorrect or false” while adding more information.

“In October, US intelligence agencies released a public statement warning about Russian hacking. Trump addressed the issue during debates. When the White House learned that some agencies thought the hacking was meant to benefit Trump’s candidacy, it weighed speaking out more forcefully prior to the election. Ultimately it didn’t, worried about influencing the outcome.”

Another tweet, sent earlier this month, saw Trump attack union leader Chuck Jones, with the extension then stepping in to clarify matters.