Twitter to purge Covid vaccine misinformation, label fake tweets

Using a combination of technology and human review, Twitter said that it will begin enforcing this updated policy on December 21 and expanding its actions during the following weeks.

New Delhi: Twitter has announced to remove tweets making false or misleading claims about Covid-19 vaccinations from next week and label such fake claims from early next year.

Starting next week, Twitter will prioritise the removal of the most harmful misleading information.

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Using a combination of technology and human review, Twitter said that it will begin enforcing this updated policy on December 21 and expanding its actions during the following weeks.

From early 2021, Twitter may label or place a warning on Tweets that advance unsubstantiated rumours, disputed claims, as well as incomplete or out-of-context information about vaccines.

“We will enforce this policy in close consultation with local, national and global public health authorities around the world, and will strive to be iterative and transparent in our approach,” the micro-blogging platform said in a statement late on Wednesday.

According to Twitter, beginning next week, the expanded policy will include false claims that suggest immunizations and vaccines are used to intentionally cause harm to or control populations and statements about vaccines that invoke a deliberate conspiracy.

“False claims which have been widely debunked about the adverse impacts or effects of receiving vaccinations or false claims that COVID-19 is not real or not serious, and therefore that vaccinations are unnecessary” will also be counted as part of the expanded policy.

Tweets that are labeled under the expanded guidance may link to authoritative public health information or the Twitter Rules to provide people with additional context and authoritative information about COVID-19.

The Twitter action came after reports surfaced earlier this week that Facebook will now send notifications directly to users who like, share, or comment on such posts.

According to a report from Fast Company, the social network is changing how it reaches people who have encountered misinformation on its platform.

“The company will now send notifications to anyone who has liked, commented, or shared a piece of Covid-19 misinformation that’s been taken down for violating the platform’s terms of service,” the report said.