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The White House on Wednesday deleted a Twitter message promoting an increase in retiree benefits after the social media site added a “context” note explaining that the increase was due to inflation.
The White House message, released Tuesday, said: “Seniors are getting the biggest increase in their Social Security checks in 10 years through President Biden’s leadership.”
Twitter later added a “context” note to explain that the reason for the increase was a 1972 law that states that there should be automatic increases in these benefits as the consumer price index changes.
According to the latest data released a fortnight ago by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the year-on-year inflation rate fell for the third consecutive time in September and stood at 8.2 %, although consumer prices rose by four-tenths of a percentage point on a monthly basis.
In her daily press briefing, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged that the message was incomplete.
The Social Security Administration announced in October that the adjustment to cost-of-living benefits will be 8.7% in 2023, the largest increase since 1981.
Twitter adds “context” notes to some messages that receive a lot of visibility on the platform and may lack information to be accurately understood, the company explains on its blog.
