Twitter starts community project against fake news
Twitter users should use Birdwatch to provide context to fake news. (Photo: Sattalat Phukkum / Shutterstock)
No time right now?
Correct handling of fake news poses a challenge to social networks. Twitter is now relying on its own community.
Twitter wants to take a community-based approach against fake news. In a pilot project limited to the USA for the time being, selected users should check content and provide information on the context, says Twitter’s product boss Keith Coleman with.
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Community provides background information
Anyone who sees a tweet with false or misleading information can participate in Birdwatch: The menu, via which tweets can also be reported, has a new option “Contribute to Birdwatch.”
After clicking on this option, you will first be asked why the content appears misleading and how great the damage could be. A statement with background information can then be entered.
Other users can rate this reaction and vote whether it is helpful and truthful.
Quick and informative classification
In this way, Twitter wants to be able to react faster and provide misleading content with context. “We know this could get messy and problematic at times, but we think it’s a model worth trying,” Coleman writes.
For the time being, the project is running its own Homepage called Birdwatch.site and is limited to the United States. According to its own information, Twitter is still looking for participants.
Depending on how the pilot phase is going and what feedback the participants give, Birdwatch should be continued or expanded. It is therefore conceivable that the notes are also displayed directly with the original tweet.
