Twitter boosts its fact-checking on tweets. The social media platform is now labeling tweets that mislead the connections between 5G and the spread of COVID-19 with a fact-checking link, according to Gizmodo.
The policy is part of Twitter's ongoing attempt to improve its service, which is currently in a furious dispute with President Donald Trump, along with rivals Facebook and Snapchat.
The Business Insider spotted the change, which comes days after Twitter cracked down on Trump's tweets with a voter-fraud fact check. The platform also hid the president's tweets that incited violence against protesters.
The new label says, "Get the facts about COVID-19" with a link directs to this hub of tweets and articles that debunk the conspiracy theory.
Twitter has been using artificial intelligence (AI) since last month to classify misinformation and apply warnings depending on how "dangerous" the tweet is. This aims to expand them to other topics in the future.
Twitter boosts security and fact-checking
Twitter said it has have broadened its guidance on "unverified claims that incite people to engage in a harmful activity, could lead to the destruction or damage of critical 5G infrastructure, or... widespread panic, social unrest, or large-scale disorder."
For years, conspiracy theories that link the radiofrequency waves from mobile phones to cancer have been spreading. However, those conspiracy theories have now expanded to include 5G, which requires more infrastructure and operates at a higher frequency.
Conspiracy theorists have been using misinformation about how 5G works to urge people to burn down 5G towers worldwide. One conspiracy theory claims that 5G weakens immune systems, which makes people more susceptible to contracting coronavirus. However, there is no scientific evidence to support this. The United Kingdom regulators have found that the electromagnetic radiation that 5G towers emit is well below the international guidelines.
Although Twitter is not deleting tweets that spread false information since its algorithm is not perfect, they have already mentioned that they will not take these misleading tweets.
"As we've said previously, we will not take enforcement action on every tweet that contains incomplete or disputed information about COVID-19," a Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider.
A quick search for the terms '5G' and 'coronavirus' on Twitter will show the fact-check label on tweets by people who believe that 5G causes COVID-19, although the algorithm does not find all misleading claims.
Also, the fact-check label is applied to sarcastic tweets about 5G and COVID-19. Some of which are from users who seem to be running various tests to see what combination of '5G' and 'coronavirus' will trigger Twitter's fact-check label.
However, Telegraph noted that Twitter's warnings have landed into farce, obscene jokes, factual news headlines, and complaints about false claims while conspiracy theorists are left unscathed.
However, these fact-check labels alone will not curtail Twitter's bigger problem, which is bots. A study carried out by Carnegie Mellon University found that bots and fake accounts were behind the Twitter campaign to "reopen America."
While fact-checking labels do not deter bots, the real people who would retweet the bots' posts might be tracked.
