Twitter is expanding the visibility of its “Birdwatch” program that is designed to give people using its platform a say in what is deemed misinformation.
People using Twitter and U.S. policymakers have frequently questioned the social media platform’s censoring its people and content, such as by banning former President Donald Trump. Now, Twitter aims to give its users more of a role in decisions about what information gets elevated on its service, according to the company.
Twitter already uses automation to moderate users’ activity and experimented last year with its Birdwatch tool to let people flag information in posts they thought was wrong and create a note to add context. On Thursday, Twitter said some people in the U.S. will see those notes.
“Starting today, a small (and randomized) group of people on Twitter in the U.S. will see Birdwatch notes directly on some Tweets,” Keith Coleman, Twitter vice president of product, said on the company’s blog. “They’ll also be able to rate notes, providing input that will help improve Birdwatch’s ability to add context that is helpful to people from different points of view.”
Mr. Coleman said the notes will need to be rated helpful by enough people using Birdwatch for them to appear on a post.
The social media platform said it is collaborating with news wire services Reuters and The Associated Press to assess the quality of information and has added advisers from the University of Washington, the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mr. Coleman said the Birdwatch program had 10,000 contributors, and the company published data and details about the algorithm used in the Birdwatch program.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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