Twitter will hide 'misleading' coronavirus tweets with warnings
Social media site will prioritise reviewing content that could lead to COVID-19 being spread faster
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Twitter has introduced further measures to try and combat the spread of coronavirus misinformation and disinformation on its platform.
Misinformation is incorrect information naively shared, while disinformation is incorrect information maliciously shared with the intent to deceive the audience.
The company announced in a blog post that new labels and warning messages will be added to the microblogging site in order to “provide additional context and information” to tweets with “disputed or misleading information” about the coronavirus.
The label states that “some or all of the content shared in this Tweet conflicts with guidance from public health experts regarding COVID-19.” This label would block the misleading tweet from being shown, unless a user hits the “View” button to reveal it.
Guidance for the types of tweets that would be flagged by this system has been provided, even though “false or misleading content can take many forms”. This includes:
- Misleading information — statements or assertions that have been confirmed to be false or misleading by subject-matter experts, such as public health authorities.
- Disputed claims — statements or assertions in which the accuracy, truthfulness, or credibility of the claim is contested or unknown.
- Unverified claims — information (which could be true or false) that is unconfirmed at the time it is shared.
Twitter has said that it is trying to monitor COVID-19 content, detect high-visibility tweets quickly, and then find ways to combat misinformation without amplifying it.
It will be prioritising reviewing and labelling content that could lead to the coronavirus being spread faster or exposed to more people.
Previously, Twitter had taken other measures to fight the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation.
The company is removing conspiracy theories linking 5G with the coronavirus after cell towers in the UK were vandalised and workers threatened, as well as linking to government sources to provide correct information about COVID-19.
It is also experimenting with flagging users for “harmful” language, sending them a prompt proposing that they reconsider their tweet.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments