A new Twitter test will let you report misleading tweets, starting with some customers in a few countries, including the United States and Australia, before releasing the feature publicly.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- Twitter is testing misinformation reporting with some users
- The limited test is live in the US, Australia and South Korea
- User feedback will determine when the feature launches publicly
Twitter’s new reporting feature for battling misinformation
The new misinformation-reporting tool was announced officially on Twitter.
“We’re testing a feature for you to report tweets that seem misleading—as you see them,“ reads the announcement. Currently, a few types of misleading tweets you can report include health, COVID,19, political and election misinformation.
It’s currently unclear what happens after you report a tweet for misinformation.
We’re testing a feature for you to report Tweets that seem misleading – as you see them. Starting today, some people in the US, South Korea, and Australia will find the option to flag a Tweet as “It’s misleading” after clicking on Report Tweet.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) August 17, 2021
Be that as it may, this is great news. That’s especially true in terms of Twitter’s broader efforts to battle the spread of misinformation on its platform like we saw in the past. Previous efforts included special labels on tweets that spread misinformation.
→ How to create custom lists on Twitter
Twitter expects to roll out this test to additional countries after a few months, reports The Verge. For now, this new option is found within Twitter’s existing reporting features.
How to report a misleading tweet
To get started with it (assuming you’re included in the test), first touch the contextual menu in the top-right corner of a tweet that contains misinformation or misleads people in other ways. From the menu, choose the option labeled “Report Tweet” and then choose “It’s misleading” (prior choices are still present and include “I’m not interested in this tweet”, “It’s suspicious or spam”, “It’s abusive or harmful” and “It expresses intentions of self-harm or suicide”).
Follow the on-screen instructions to finish reporting the tweet for misinformation.
Reporter: "What's your message to platforms like Facebook?"
President Biden: "They're killing people." pic.twitter.com/jrAvQpG7i0
— The Hill (@thehill) July 16, 2021
This test is available to some customers in the United States, Australia and South Korea. Depending on user feedback, the company may soon release the feature to all users or continue tweaking it to work out the kinks.
“We’re assessing if this is an effective approach so we’re starting small,” the company explained in a follow-up tweet. “We may not take action on and cannot respond to each report in the experiment, but your input will help us identify trends so that we can improve the speed and scale of our broader misinformation work.”