The damaging effects of misinformation being deliberately spread during times of breaking news is a problem that’s not going away for Twitter.
The social network has repeatedly come under fire for this very issue and has again pledged to more to combat the problem. This fresh vow comes in the wake of the hacking of a YouTube employee’s account as news of the San Bruno shooting was beginning to spread.
“People come to Twitter first to learn about news and events unfolding in real-time, and we’re committed to ensuring that the information they receive is credible and authentic,” the company said.
“When information from the shooting at YouTube HQ started to appear on Twitter, we saw credible and relevant information from individuals and news organizations. We also saw accounts deliberately sharing deceptive, malicious information, sometimes organizing on other networks to do so.
“As we’ve previously shared, we strongly believe Twitter should not be the arbiter of truth. However, we do see information shared on the service in a way that violates many of our existing policies, as happened in the immediate aftermath of the attack in San Bruno.”
Systematic abuse
Tweets are bound to comply by a range of criteria, including supposed restrictions on messages that harass or abuse (although the effectiveness of this rule can be debated), incite fear or attempt to manipulate conversation.
“Using these policies … we immediately started requiring account owners to remove Tweets,” the company added. “We also suspended hundreds of accounts for harassing others or purposely manipulating conversations about the event. While we were removing Tweets and accounts that broke our rules, our team was also focused on identifying and surfacing relevant and credible content people could trust.
“This work is ongoing. We are continuing to explore and invest in what more we can do with our technology, enforcement options, and policies. We're committed to continuing to improve and to holding ourselves accountable as we work to make Twitter better for everyone.”
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