Twitter targets vaccine misinformation with strike system and labels

Agencies | San Francisco

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Twitter said it had started targeting vaccine misinformation posted to its platform by labelling tweets and introducing a strike system for repeat offenders.

The social media giant said it would label tweets suspected of containing misleading information about coronavirus vaccines.

Accounts that repeatedly violate Twitter's rules will be subject to a strike system - for example, a deleted tweet would accrue two strikes, while a labelled tweet would accrue one, dpa reports

Two or three strikes can incur a 12-hour lock, four strikes can see an account locked for a week, and five strikes can lead to a permanent suspension.

The labels will initially be applied manually by staff who determine whether content violates policy. Eventually, Twitter aims to use human review and automation to address violations relating to vaccines.

Links to official public health information may appear alongside the labels, and the rollout will be focused on English-language content first.

Users who think their account was blocked in error can appeal.

The move aims to bolster Twitter's efforts to combat the most harmful misleading information about Covid-19.

It comes as many countries have kicked off their vaccination campaigns.

Twitter said more than 8,400 tweets have been removed and 11.5 million accounts worldwide have been challenged since the introduction of its Covid-19 guidance.

The platform has already used labelling to flag misinformation, most notably during the US 2020 election when it marked tweets from former president Donald Trump and eventually suspended his account.