Recently, Twitter announced that it will be taking strict action against users who spread false information regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Twitter will now be labeling tweets regarding misleading information about the vaccine. These labels will include links to relevant information from official bodies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, information of all sorts can be perceived as the truth and it has caused many people to fall for scams. As a result, many platforms have taken the step to ensure the verification of information regarding the pandemic and the respective vaccination. Facebook had introduced anti-misinformation banners to enable users to seek only the verified source of information.
However, on Twitter, these labels appear as text underneath misleading tweets with links to official sources. According to the company, these labels are applicable through a combination of human and automated review systems and are starting its rollout with English-language content first.
The company is currently targeting tweets that do not abide by their misleading information policy. Moreover, Twitter will also be taking strict actions against the users who provide such false information. Upon the first strike, there would be a warning with no account-level action. If the user violates the policy more than once the user can be banned from his or her account for days and even permanently later on.
