Twitter will work with two of the largest international news providers, Reuters and the Associated Press, to debunk disinformation on its platform.
The news outlets will help Twitter provide more context and background information on events that generate a large number of tweets, in the hope of counteracting the spread of false information.
The social media platform said the partnership would allow it to ensure accurate and credible information is readily available “when facts are in dispute.”
When large or fast trending conversations take place on Twitter that can be notable or controversial, Twitter’s curation team draws relevant connections from reliable sources and promotes them to combat potentially misleading information from users.
Twitter said the new program would “increase the scale and speed” of this work by supporting their “capacity to add reliable context to conversations happening on the platform.”
The post said data from Reuters and AP would enhance the credibility of the information on the platform if Twitter’s curation team “doesn’t have the specific expertise or access to a high enough volume of reputable reporting on Twitter.”
It is the first time Twitter has formally partnered with news organizations to promote accurate information and combat disinformation, and the social media giant will work separately with the two rival news agencies to prioritize English-language content first.
Earlier this year, Twitter introduced Birdwatch, a new community moderation system that allows volunteers to tag tweets that turn out to be inaccurate.
A 2020 report by NYU Stern revealed that Twitter has about 1,500 moderators – with 199 million daily users around the world.
For more information, read the original story in the BBC.