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Rabat – Twitter is responding to fake news and disputed claims by adding labels and warnings to posts considered unaligned with credible sources.
According to Twitter’s recent blog post regarding this latest measure, their goal is to ensure the social media platform offers credible information and to curb the spread of misleading or harmful content.
Twitter will mark any content deemed misleading, unverified, or disputed, and hold the accuracy of claims against public health authorities and “trusted partners.”
The social media company may call upon popular think tanks, health experts, and non-government organizations as trusted sources.
Earlier this year, Twitter added labels to tweets flagged for containing synthetic or manipulated media. The new misinformation labels will look similar.
Labels and warnings will show up alongside identified tweets, suggesting that the post may contain controversial or conflicting information. The labels and warnings will also direct viewers to an external information source or a Twitter-curated page with relevant information.
“Our teams are using and improving on internal systems to proactively monitor content related to COVID-19. These systems help ensure we’re not amplifying Tweets with these warnings or labels and detecting the high-visibility content quickly,” the Twitter blog post explained.
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The system will also backtrack to flag tweets published prior to the new initiative. However, embedded tweets and tweets viewed without being logged into the platform may not exhibit the labels.
Twitter has centered its response to fake news around the concern over misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company is prepared to tackle other rumors and implement new labels as needed.
Other online social media platforms such as Facebook have also upped their response to fake news and concerning media content. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg recently announced the implementation of an oversight board to better review and judge published content.
Unlike Facebook, Twitter’s labeling approach avoids a deliberating process and deflects the debate.
Questions remain as to how effective online measures to weed out misinformation will be, and whether or not these measures will result in restricted access to freedom of speech.
