Twitter has begun expanding a test tool that allows users to flag tweets on the network as “misleading” to other countries. Users from Brazil, Spain, and the Philippines will now be able to utilise the feature, which was previously only available in the United States, South Korea, and Australia, according to the microblogging site. In August of last year, the California-based company began testing the function in order to combat misinformation on its social networking platform. After clicking on report tweet, users have the opportunity to mark a tweet as “misleading.”
“We’ve received around 3 million reports from you all so far, pointing out tweets that violate our principles and helping us uncover new misinformation trends,” the business said in a tweet.
This wasn’t Twitter’s first attempt to battle fake news on its network. It created a crowd-sourced fact-checking platform dubbed ‘Birdwatch’ in January, which allows users to attach comments to erroneous tweets to provide more context. By clicking on the binoculars icon on a tweet, users will be able to access further information.
To begin, some users in the United States, South Korea, and Australia saw a button that said “it’s deceptive” after they clicked “report tweet.” Users could then be more explicit, labelling the false tweet as including “health,” “politics,” or “other” disinformation. “We’re testing a tool that allows you to report Tweets that appear to be deceptive – as you see them,” the social network said in a tweet announcing the service in August of last year.
“We’re testing if this is a viable strategy, so we’re starting small.” We may not be able to respond to every report in the trial, but your feedback will help us identify trends so that we can enhance the timeliness and scope of our larger anti-misinformation efforts.”
Critics regularly criticize social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, claiming that the corporations do not do enough to combat the spread of disinformation.
Twitter Inc established a partnership with Reuters and the Associated Press (AP) on Monday to add greater context to tweets and postings on the social media platform. The move comes as disinformation continues to spread quickly on social media, particularly Twitter, which is extensively utilized as a source of breaking news on a regular basis.
The microblogging platform will leverage the agencies’ insights to confirm and explain why a topic is trending, as well as provide context in the form of a tweet or a short description. People should expect more trends with contextual explanations and links to reporting from credible sources as a result of the cooperation, Twitter said in a statement.
