CBS News Accused of 'Political Advocacy' After Tweet Promoting 'Fight' Against Georgia Voting Law

CBS News came under fire for promoting “3 ways companies can help fight Georgia’s restrictive new voting law” with its latest piece on Twitter, with critics accusing the network of engaging in political activism and advertising an anti-law stance on the issue, instead of simply reporting on it.

“Incredible that CBS News would publish pure political advocacy,” Washington Examiner’s correspondent Byron York wrote, sharing the now-deleted tweet which featured the controversial headline and a link to the article.

In the piece, the CBS News journalist has pondered how big companies, like Delta, could stop providing funds to political GOP legislators involved in “the state's move to restrict voting rights” with Georgia’s new law.

But neither the article nor the tweet advertising the piece featured “opinion” disclaimers, making an impression that the news service was making a call on how to combat the Republican-led initiative in the state.

Following a widespread backlash, the original tweet featuring the much-criticised headline was deleted and replaced with a new one, shifting responsibility for the “fight”, and calling on “civil rights groups.”

The article’s headline was also amended: now it was “activists” who were “calling on big companies to challenge new voting laws”.

But Twitter users have managed to capture the channel’s original tweet and the headline, sharing the screenshots to continue their rebuke of the news service.

Georgia’s voting bill, passed and signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp last week, was decried by US President Joe Biden as “Jim Crow in the 21st Century”, in a reference to racial segregation laws that were imposed on the Southern United States in the late 19th century.

The new legislation has introduced strict ID requirements for absentee ballots voters, shrunk time for absentee ballots requests, made it illegal for election officials to send mail ballots to all voters in the state without requests and banned the handing of water and food for voters waiting in line - in a fear that this may prompt outsiders to influence citizens voting-behaviour.  

Despite a strong criticism from Democrats who dubbed the law an “attack” on voting rights, Governor Kemp has defended the bill as actually “expanding” access to voters, rather than limiting it, as opponents claims.

"Georgia will take another step toward ensuring our elections are secure, accessible, and fair," Kemp insisted last week.