Twitter says it inadvertently limited engagements on Trump's flagged tweets

Twitter Inc had "inadvertently" limited engagements for a brief period on US President Donald Trump's tweets with "disputed" labels but later reversed its action.

Some users on the social media platform had noticed earlier on Saturday that the ability to like, re-tweet or reply to Trump's tweets with a "disputed" label was not working.

To this end, a Twitter spokesman told Reuters in an emailed statement on Saturday: "We inadvertently took action to limit engagements on the labeled Tweet you referenced. This action has been reversed."

The development was earlier reported by The Verge and The Hill.

Twitter has recently added multiple warnings and labels to tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account of the president, including many that have made unfounded allegations of voting fraud in the US elections.

Trump also made such tweets on Saturday, including one in which he falsely claimed that he won the election in a "landslide" in "legal votes". Twitter flagged them with a label saying: "This claim about election fraud is disputed".

The social media platform first hid one of his tweets behind a "public interest" label in May when the president violated the company's policy against glorifying violence.

Trump will be subject to the same Twitter rules as any other user when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20, the social media company said last month.

Twitter places "public interest" notices on some rule-breaking tweets from "world leaders" that would otherwise be removed.

(with inputs)