Twitter has confirmed that they are working on a new tool called “Birdwatch” to prevent the spread of information that may be wrong or abusive. It allows users to tag a tweet as “suspicious” and add notes about it so the others can be aware. It is a kind of warning from the community.
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Birdwatch was spotted a few weeks ago by Jane Manchun Wong, who often tracks Twitter codes for new features. She said: “Twitter is working on a moderation tool to monitor misinformations on Twitter.”
Twitter is working on a moderation tool to monitor misinformations on Twitter
Moderators can flag tweets, vote on whether it is misleading, and add a note about it
(I made up my own note to show what it currently looks like) pic.twitter.com/YIa6zt58Fj
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) August 5, 2020
Earlier this month it was Matt Navarra discovered more options for this new feature. Specifically, he highlighted the “Add to Birdwatch” button. When you add a tweet to Birdwatch, the tweet will appear with an icon of glasses for the rest of the users. And you can also have more information about the tweet by clicking on that icon, it will appear as notes that other users may have left.
New Twitter feature?
‘Birdwatch’?! 🐦
Any guesses what it does? pic.twitter.com/1vmpZdTKLi
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) September 30, 2020
Finally, Kayvon Beykpour has confirmed the feature with his response tweet to Jane Manchun Wong where she gave more details about it. According to Kayvon, they will share more information about Birdwatch soon.
I suppose this is a good time to offer a reminder that we’ve love the opportunity to work with you 😉
On Birdwatch, excited to share more about our plans here soon.
— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) October 3, 2020
It is still early to say how Birdwatch will work and whether it will be effective in preventing the spread of false or abusive information. Twitter, due to its design as a social network, is an extremely weapon for propaganda, both positively and negatively. Features such as this seek to stop the spread of information that may be false or lead to harmful behavior.
The social network has taken different measures to avoid violence. A clear example of this is the Birdwatch feature in which users themselves mark a tweet as suspicious. However, it remains to be seen who exactly will be able to add notes and who will be able to see them.
