As the November midterm elections get closer, Twitter is already planning ahead regarding misinformation, an issue that has been present for the platform dating back to the 2016 presidential election. Twitter just announced its plans to implement a new policy of officially labeling misinformation tweets ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
@CNN reports, Twitter is actively trying to stop any political misinformation about the upcoming midterms before it starts. The company announced a new policy the will “label and demote misinformation about the upcoming US elections, such as false claims about how to cast a ballot or the outcomes of a race, as part of a broader set of content enforcement policies it’s activating ahead of the midterms,” according to an official statement. The new set of policies are part of the Civic Integrity Policy, which is aimed at cracking down on “harmful misleading information about elections and civic events.”
Twitter users can expect to see message prompts at the top of their feeds informing them about false information, including claims that voting by mail is insecure, while also directing them to accurate information about the voting process. Additional changes will also feature updated Twitter recommendations in an effort to limit the spread of misinformation, and new labels that apply to misleading information that the company says has proved to be successful at reducing engagement on tweets involving misinformation.
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Via a company-wide blog post, Twitter further explained that all misleading tweets will be “labeled with links to credible information or helpful context, and Twitter will not recommend or amplify this content in areas of the product where Twitter makes recommendations.”
The post elaborated on the company’s plans, explaining the upcoming changes to the user experience. “People on Twitter will see a prompt prior to liking or sharing labeled tweets and in cases where there is potential for harm associated with the false or misleading claim, the Tweet may not be liked or shared to prevent the spread of the misleading information.”
