Twitter is proactively trying to prevent its users from being misinformed about next week’s elections by starting to “pre-bunk” bogus related claims they are likely to see online.
Prompts that began appearing Monday on the Twitter feeds of users in the U.S. aim to preemptively debunk misinformation about the election the company expects users may see or share.
The first prompt says that election experts confirm “voting by mail is safe and secure,” but it notes users may see unproven claims to the contrary being shared on social media.
Another prompt being displayed by Twitter says that election results might be delayed, and it warns users to be wary of unconfirmed claims that a candidate may have won their race.
Twitter said the prompts will appear in the timeline of every person with a Twitter account in the U.S. and when users search the service for related terms, phrases and hashtags.
“Research shows that getting ahead of misinformation is a powerful way to build resilience,” said Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of site integrity. “Excited to see this application of inoculation theory in practice,” he tweeted.
Twitter, President Trump’s preferred social media service, recently announced several other policies related to next week’s elections meant to limit the spread of misinformation.
In addition to warning election results may be delayed, Twitter recently said it will flag posts that prematurely claim victory in the presidential race or others, for example.
“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,” a Twitter spokesperson told The Washington Times. “We also know that people may intentionally or unintentionally spread misleading information about these topics, which we have expanded our policies to address.”
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