Twitter has been one of the most proactive platforms when it comes to things like trying to prevent misinformation surrounding the novel coronavirus from spreading. A big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that there can be a lot of harm that could happen if misinformation is spread. The social media platform has removed thousands of tweets, nearly 15,000 in fact, that had misinformation about the pandemic since the new rules were instated in March. What’s more is that around four and a half million accounts that had been guilty of trying to spread misinformation have been challenged.
There are three criteria that a tweet needs to be meet in order to be deleted. The first criteria is that the tweet should be presented as a fact about the pandemic or something related to it. The second criteria is that the information presented should be false, and demonstrably so according to experts on the matter. The third criteria is that the information should be dangerous in some way, shape or form, so this isn’t just about misleading tweets although these do end up getting a warning attached to them so that the likelihood that people would follow them would end up being lower than they might have been otherwise. Any tweet that meets all three criteria would be deleted immediately.
Twitter’s information page about the pandemic has been visited over two billion times by over 160 million unique visitors. What this means is that this social media platform is taking some pretty concrete steps towards making things better, and this is something that should definitely be commended in some way, shape or form. Not all social networks are doing a good job in this regard, so the fact that Twitter is taking so many right steps is a sign that they might just a somewhat more ethical social media platform.
Photo: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Read next: Bitcoin Scam Stricken Twitter Accounts Causing it a Serious Backlash
There are three criteria that a tweet needs to be meet in order to be deleted. The first criteria is that the tweet should be presented as a fact about the pandemic or something related to it. The second criteria is that the information presented should be false, and demonstrably so according to experts on the matter. The third criteria is that the information should be dangerous in some way, shape or form, so this isn’t just about misleading tweets although these do end up getting a warning attached to them so that the likelihood that people would follow them would end up being lower than they might have been otherwise. Any tweet that meets all three criteria would be deleted immediately.
Twitter’s information page about the pandemic has been visited over two billion times by over 160 million unique visitors. What this means is that this social media platform is taking some pretty concrete steps towards making things better, and this is something that should definitely be commended in some way, shape or form. Not all social networks are doing a good job in this regard, so the fact that Twitter is taking so many right steps is a sign that they might just a somewhat more ethical social media platform.
Photo: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Read next: Bitcoin Scam Stricken Twitter Accounts Causing it a Serious Backlash
