Twitter has announced it will roll out an anti-misinformation banner ahead of the U.S. election. As reported by The Verge this will start appearing for U.S. users as of today.
The election period has been a busy one for Twitter and other social media platforms. After the issues faced in 2016, all platforms have had to find innovative ways of fighting misinformation. Alongside these banners, Twitter has also temporarily made it more difficult to retweet to prevent the mindless spread of information.
Despite all the issues in the run-up to the election, it has not stopped Twitter from implementing other updates which have nothing to do with it. For example, Android users have received a brand new share menu in recent weeks as Twitter continues to tweet its platform.
As mentioned, these banners have begun rolling out to U.S. users as of now and will remain until the election. The company says these banners will offer up to date and accurate information about the election in real-time.
Twitter introduces election anti-misinformation banners
Twitter users can expect these banners to start popping up very soon if you are in the U.S. They should include information about voting by mail as well as up to date election results.
The idea is that the banners will appear whenever anyone searches for election-related phrases or hashtags. Twitter says the anti-misinformation banner will “preemptively address topics that are likely to be the subject of election misinformation”.
One of the two banners is designed to reassure voters that voting by mail is safe to do. The other informs users of that election results may not be announced right away. Both have links to Twitter Moments which Twitter will fill with more up to date information about the election and results.
It is important to note that these banners do not address false statements. Twitter does warn against seeing “unconfirmed claims” about the safety of mail voting.
Twitter currently removes or labelled tweets which contain false information. However, such is the nature and the spread of misinformation, Twitter cannot always take this material down quickly enough. As a result, this primitive approach should make a difference.
Facebook has also announced a similar banner system. It will inform users whether votes are still being counted in an attempt to position itself as a reliable source of information on election night.
Twitter has the same goal in mind. A spokesperson said, “people rely on Twitter for accurate, credible information about how to vote, and the latest election news, and we believe it’s critical that we make it easy for people to find that information”.