(ETH) – Twitter is warning that it will take the proactive step of alerting its users to potential misinformation in preparation for unverified claims about the coming November 3rd US election. Twitter is stating that it would place notices at the top of user feeds warning the users that there may be delays in full election results and that some may see “misleading information” about voting by mail.
According to MSN, This “pre-bunking” is part of an effort to stay ahead of baseless claims about the election before they even take place, according to Twitter’s head of site integrity Yoel Roth. “We’re introducing ‘pre-bunks’ for some of the most common misleading claims about #Election2020,” Roth tweeted. “Research shows that getting ahead of misinformation is a powerful way to build resilience. Excited to see this application of inoculation theory in practice.”
This latest move is the latest by online social media platforms that have aimed at stemming a wave of unverified claims during the campaign, including President Donald Trump’s efforts to call into question the legitimacy of mail-in ballots. Facebook is also taking extraordinary measures for the real possibility of trying to calm election-related conflicts that may spawn in the U.S. from the election outcome.
The report from the Wallstreet Journal states that Facebook is deploying internal tools designed for what it calls “at-risk” countries, according to people familiar with the matter. The report details the plan of Facebook, stating: “The emergency measures include slowing the spread of viral content and lowering the bar for suppressing potentially inflammatory posts, the people said.
Previously used in countries including Sri Lanka and Myanmar, they are part of a larger tool kit developed by Facebook to prepare for the U.S. election.” Facebook executives are assuring the public that they would only deploy these tools in what they are calling “dire circumstances”, such as election-related violence, However, the executives there also stated that the company needs to be prepared for all possibilities.
