Twitter To Label Posts With “Highest Potential For Harm”

Business Insider reports:

Twitter said Wednesday it will not tackle all the misinformation on its platform but will instead focus on posts with the “highest potential for harm” as it works to curb false or misleading information from spreading.

The social media giant said it is responding to a survey from last year in which respondents said that “Twitter shouldn’t determine the truthfulness of Tweets” and “Twitter should provide context to help people make up their own minds in cases where the substance of a Tweet is disputed.”

“We are NOT attempting to address all misinformation. Instead, we prioritize based on the highest potential for harm, focusing on manipulated media, civic integrity, and COVID-19. Likelihood, severity and type of potential harm — along with reach and scale — factor into this.”

We heard:

1⃣Twitter shouldn’t determine the truthfulness of Tweets
2⃣Twitter should provide context to help people make up their own minds in cases where the substance of a Tweet is disputed

Hence, our focus is on providing context, not fact-checking.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) June 3, 2020

We are NOT attempting to address all misinformation. Instead, we prioritize based on the highest potential for harm, focusing on manipulated media, civic integrity, and COVID-19. Likelihood, severity and type of potential harm — along with reach and scale — factor into this.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) June 3, 2020