Twitter to label disputed COVID-19 tweets

Chicago, May 11 (AP) Twitter anunced Monday it will warn users when a tweet contains disputed or misleing information about coronavirus.

new rule is latest in a wave of stricter policies that tech companies across are rolling out to confront an outbreak of virus-related misinformation on ir sites.

Twitter will take a case-by-case approach to how it decides which tweets are labelled and will only remove posts that are harmful, company leers said Monday.

Some tweets will run with a label underneath that directs users to a link with ditional information about COVID-19. Or tweets might be covered entirely by a warning label alerting users that “some or all of content shared in this tweet conflict with guidance from public health experts regarding COVID-19”.

new labels will be available in roughly 40 langus and should begin appearing on tweets as soon as today. warning could apply retroactively to past tweets.

Twitter won't directly fact check or call tweets false on site, said Nick Pickles, company's global senior strategist for public policy. warning labels might direct users to curated tweets, public health websites or news articles.

“People don't want us to play role of deciding for m what's true and what's t true but y do want people to play a much stronger role providing context,” Pickles said.

fine line is similar to one taken by tech rival Facebook, which has said it doesn't want to be an “arbiter of truth" but has arranged for third-party fact checkers to review falsehoods on its site. Associated Press is part of Facebook's fact-checking program.

One example of a disputed tweet that might be labeled on its site includes claims about origin of COVID-19, which remains unkwn. Conspiracy ories about how virus started and if it is man-me have swirled around social media for months.

Twitter will continue to take down COVID-19 tweets that pose a threat to safety of a person or group, along with attempts to incite mass violence or widespre civil unrest.

company has alrey been removing bogus coronavirus cures and claims that social distancing or face masks do t curb virus' spre.

Twitter anunced in February a similar initiative to label doctored or manipulated photos or ims on its site after a video of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was slowed down to make it appear as if she slurred her words. Since n, Twitter has only applied label twice to manipulated media.

Tech giants Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have responded to a global spre of misinformation that has moved with virus since outbreak began in January.

Last month, Facebook also began alerting users who interacted with coronavirus misinformation by directing m to World Health Organisation's fact p. (AP) SCY

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