Social media company Twitter has announced a new policy to combat the spread of misinformation during a crisis.
Twitter says the new warning labels are part of its new crisis misinformation policy, which they announced Thursday.
The company said the new policy "will guide our efforts to elevate credible, authoritative information, and will help to ensure viral misinformation isn’t amplified or recommended by us during crises."
According to The Verge, false reports spread rapidly during emergencies, including natural disasters or armed conflict, as people rush to report misleading information.
"To reduce potential harm, as soon as we have evidence that a claim may be misleading, we won’t amplify or recommend content that is covered by this policy across Twitter – including in the Home timeline, Search, and Explore," the company said. "In addition, we will prioritize adding warning notices to highly visible Tweets and Tweets from high profile accounts, such as state-affiliated media accounts and verified official government accounts.
If a tweet violates the crisis misinformation policy, Twitter won't delete it. Instead, they would place a warning notice over the tweet.
Twitter said the policy will first focus on the Ukraine war but will "update and expand the policy to include additional forms of crisis."
