Twitter’s new feature to allow users to report tweets that mislead voters
The feature will be operational in India starting Thursday.
Twitter on Wednesday said it is launching a new feature that will allow users to easily report content that provides misleading information on voting.
Twitter said the feature will only be available in India and the European Union for now. “We will start with 2019 Lok Sabha in India and the EU [European Union] elections and then roll out to other elections globally throughout the rest of the year,” the social media platform said. The feature will be operational in India starting Thursday and in the European Union from April 29.
The company said any attempts to undermine the process of registering to vote or engage in the electoral process is contrary to its core values. “Voting is a fundamental human right and the public conversation occurring on Twitter is never more important than during elections,” it said.
Twitter said the new reporting feature was in addition to its existing “proactive approach” to deal with “malicious automation and other forms of platform manipulation on the service”.
The company said its services should not be used to manipulate or interfere in elections. Users can report misleading information about how to vote or register to vote, misleading information about requirements for voting, including identification requirements, and misleading statements or information about the official, announced date or time of an election.
Users can select “Report Tweet” from the dropdown menu and the options will include “It’s misleading about voting”. They can then select an option that best describes how the tweet is misleading and then submit a report.
Social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, were told in March to prevent the abuse of such platforms in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. On February 25, the committee had directed Twitter to ensure that foreign players do not influence the elections.