Twitter unveils new tool against EU elections meddlers
Examples of misleading information include telling voters to vote via a text message, email or phone call, identification requirements, the announced date or time of an election.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. social media company Twitter will launch a new tool next week to make it easier for users to flag deliberate attempts to mislead voters taking part in key European Parliament elections next month.
Twitter, together with Google and Facebook, are under pressure to be more proactive in tackling fake news aimed at eroding democratic processes and stoking social and political tensions.
The European Commission in its March report on the three tech giants on Tuesday said the companies still fell short of their pledge to curb the spread of fake news.
READ ALSO: Google, Facebook, Twitter have to do more to fight fake news: EU
“Today, we are further expanding our enforcement capabilities in this area by creating a dedicated reporting feature within the product to allow users to more easily report this content to us,” Twitter said in a blog.
Users who see a tweet with misleading information can report this by clicking on a drop down menu, select “It’s misleading about voting”, choose an option that explains how the tweet is misleading and submit the report to Twitter.
Examples of misleading information include telling voters to vote via a text message, email or phone call, identification requirements, the announced date or time of an election.
The new tool will be available from April 29 to a week after the May 23-26 European Parliament elections. It will be rolled out in India, where general elections are now ongoing, on Thursday.
