Twitter presented its new crisis misinformation policy on May 19. From now on, the social network will be able to display warnings on certain tweets deemed misleading. It will begin to analyze posts about the war in Ukraine and then expand to other topics.
Twitter takes action against misinformation
This new policy revealed by Twitter aims to stem the spread of false information. The network does not want to further hurt already vulnerable communities. He also wants to maintain trust in institutions that fight against the sharing of misleading claims.
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Presentation of the warning message in the face of false information. Picture: Twitter.
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To warn its users, the social networking giant will set up a system similar to the reporting of explicit images. A warning message will appear before the tweet stating that the tweet has violated Twitter’s rules regarding spreading false information. The user will still be able to read the tweet by clicking a button to access it. Retweets, likes and comments will be disabled so you can’t share it. In addition, these publications will not be highlighted by the algorithm.
What kind of content is affected?
To decide which tweet violates its new policy, Twitter will verify the information using credible and public sources such as conflict monitoring groups, humanitarian organizations, people conducting investigations from public sources on the Internet, journalists, etc.
In a blog postYoel Roth, head of security and integrity of the social network, explains that ” Content moderation is more than just choosing between leaving content online or removing it. We have expanded the scope of action we can take to ensure that action is proportionate to the severity of the potential harm ».
Twitter lists the different scenarios in which a tweet could be considered misleading:
- If it presents false coverage or a false account of an event, or if it gives information that misrepresents conditions on the ground as the conflict evolves;
- If it publishes false allegations regarding the use of force, incursions into territorial sovereignty, or around the use of weapons;
- If it publishes false allegations of war crimes or mass atrocities against specific populations;
- If it publishes false information regarding the response of the international community, sanctions, defensive actions or humanitarian operations.
For now, only accounts deemed important enough to influence a large community will be targeted by Twitter’s new policy.
The social network’s desire to fight against the dissemination of false information is part of the complicated context of its takeover by billionaire Elon Musk. The Tesla leader has already expressed his desire to transform the platform into a true bastion of freedom of expression and has declared himself open to a return from Trump on Twitter. As a reminder, the former president of the United States had his account permanently suspended after encouraging his voters to storm the Capitol in January 2021. There is no guarantee that Elon Musk will maintain this policy once the takeover has taken place.
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