# Will Twitter implement a new misinformation policy before the 2024 elections?

- (2022-11-07T15:37:28+00:00, 2022-11-07T22:21:48+00:00):Twitter published rules for the platform on Monday under new CEO Elon Musk that added to confusion over what content will be allowed on a Twitter that is under his control. | For example, the Civic Integrity policy published in the new rules Monday links back to the same policy included in the section on the Help Center that includes links to the previous COVID-19 and crisis misinformation policies. | In response to a reporter on Twitter about whether the new rules mean the company is no longer enforcing its misinformation-related policies, Twitter head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth said “no.”. | Spokespeople for Twitter have not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Hill to clarify how the new rules impact enforcement of misinformation policies. | The rollout comes amid widespread concerns from civil rights and other advocacy groups about the risk of rising hate speech and misinformation on Twitter under Musk, based on the CEOs previous comments about wanting to create his vision of a “free speech” platform with less content moderation measures in place. | Musk said the rules will “evolve over time,” but the rules he linked to on Monday did not offer guidance on how the company will address false claims on the platform — an issue critics have been sounding the alarm on since Musk closed his $44 billion deal. | In a blog post from August, the company laid out additional rules in place ahead of the midterm elections, including labeling “misleading information” and directing users to information about voting with “prebunks.”.

- (2023-05-06T12:43:32, 2023-05-06T17:06:41.435):Election and security experts say the inconsistency of Twitter’s new verification system is a misinformation disaster waiting to happen. | The election commission applied weeks ago for a gray check mark — Twitter’s new symbol to help users identify official government accounts – but has yet to hear back from the Twitter, commission spokesman Nick Custodio said. | Twitter’s new policy invites government agencies and certain affiliated organizations to apply to be labeled as official with a gray check. | Election administrators across the country have struggled to figure out the best way to respond after Twitter owner Elon Musk threw the platform’s verification service into disarray, given that Twitter has been among their most effective tools for communicating with the public. | email sent to Twitter’s press office and a company safety officer requesting comment was answered only with an auto-reply of a poop emoji. | That’s troubling, Custodio said because Pennsylvania has a primary election May 16 and the commission uses its account to share important information with voters in real time. | The Philadelphia election commission applied weeks ago for the gray check mark — Twitter’s new symbol to help users identify official government accounts – but has yet to hear back from Twitter, commission spokesman Nick Custodio said. | Some are trying to take steps to ensure that voters can tell the difference between the official election office account and any impostors that might pop up in elections this year or during the 2024 cycle. | Election administrators across the U.S. say they’re concerned their offices will be targeted for fake Twitter accounts that will confuse or mislead voters after the social media platform altered its long-standing verification service. | That’s troubling, Custodio said, because Pennsylvania has a primary election May 16 and the commission uses its account to share important information with voters in real time. | So while the main Philadelphia city government account quickly received its gray check mark last month, the local election commission has not heard back. | “Even a minor setback, like no longer being able to ensure that our information on Twitter is verified, contributes to an environment that is less predictable and less safe.”Some government accounts, including the one representing Pennsylvania’s second-largest county, have purchased blue checks because they were told it was required to continue advertising on the platform. | To replace them, Musk told users that anyone could pay $8 a month for an individual blue check mark or $1,000 a month for a gold check mark as a “verified organization.”The policy change quickly opened the door for pranksters to pose convincingly as celebrities, politicians and government entities, which could no longer be identified as authentic. | But ever since the social media platform overhauled its verification service last month, the check mark has disappeared.

- (2023-07-07T11:00:09+00:00, 2023-07-06T23:48:39+00:00):Experts also suggest that these personnel cuts, coupled with YouTube’s policy change, signal a broader shift away from misinformation regulation ahead of the 2024 election. | Asked whether Meta will implement any new safeguards or make changes to existing regulations before the 2024 election, a spokesperson said, “We continue to enforce our misinformation policies.” | Meta and fact-checking In a fact sheet published ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Meta said it would prohibit advertisements that encourage people not to vote or question the election outcome’s legitimacy. | TikTok then uses the information to apply its misinformation policies. | TikTok did not respond to a request for comment on the study’s findings. | Experts in social media disinformation have also questioned the rationale behind the policy change. | Brown said these findings were observational, and researchers could not confirm a direct link between YouTube’s policy shift and the decrease in election misinformation shared across platforms. | The AP reported before the 2022 midterm elections that Meta was “quietly curtailing some of its safeguards designed to thwart voting misinformation.” | As the 2024 presidential election comes into focus, tech giants have struggled to balance curtailing misinformation with protecting users’ political speech. | The AP also said the platform had shut down the accounts of researchers examining political ads on Facebook; and that CrowdTangle, a tool available to newsrooms and researchers to identify trending posts and misinformation, “is now inoperable on some days.” | Looking ahead to 2024 Advocates warn that YouTube’s policy change might contribute to election misinformation spreading unchecked. | A Meta spokesperson directed us to a previous company statement included in the study: “These reports were based on a very small sample of ads, and are not representative given the number of political ads we review daily across the world.” | In June 2023, the video-sharing platform officially changed its election misinformation policy and announced that videos promoting election falsehoods will no longer be removed. | The news release said little about how YouTube will approach 2024 election misinformation, but that adjustments to its strategy would be made as needed. | YouTube’s recent policy change YouTube’s June 2 announcement cited the importance of open political debate as a key motivation for its policy change. | The move has concerned digital misinformation experts, who warn that misinformation that originates on YouTube could infiltrate the broader information ecosystem, especially in 2024. | Right-wing media platforms such as Parler, Gab and Truth Social could also pose a unique challenge for stopping misinformation because they do not regulate election-related content. | A recent YouTube policy change, which affects how the platform handles election-related misinformation, is an example of this tension.

- (2023-08-30T01:04:29.000Z, 2023-09-01T10:10:17.000Z):The company said it would create a global advertising transparency center, which would let users see what political ads were being promoted on X, and added it would continue to prohibit political ads that spread false information or seek to undermine public confidence in an election. | Trump was removed from the platform after the incident, but Musk unilaterally lifted the ban in November 2022.Despite the reactivation of his account, Trump remained silent on Twitter until last week, when he shared a picture of his mugshot after surrendering at a Georgia county jail on racketeering and conspiracy charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotionHis official return has sparked concern from a number of misinformation experts, and civil rights advocates had previously warned that Trump’s return, accompanied by a loosening of content moderation policies, would “open the floodgates of disinformation” and abuse. | The social media company formerly known as Twitter said on Tuesday it would now allow political advertising in the US from candidates and political parties, reversing previous policies and raising concerns over misinformation and hate speech ahead of the 2024 presidential election. | In January, the platform lifted the ban and began allowing “cause-based ads” in the US that raise awareness of issues such as voter registration, stating that it planned to expand the types of political ads it would allow on the platform. | Trump’s return to Twitter solidifies a sharp right turn for Musk’s platform Read moreBefore the billionaire Elon Musk acquired the company, now called X, in October 2022, Twitter had banned all political ads globally since 2019. | The move to allow all political ads in the US could help X grow its revenue at a time when many advertisers have fled or reduced spending on the platform for fear of appearing next to inappropriate content.

- (unknown, unknown):In advance of the 2024 elections, what additional policies and procedures does your company intend to implement to counter election-related misinformation and disinformation on your platform?. | According to one report, even before recent layoffs your companies lacked sufficient policies and staff to counter disinformation during the 2022 elections. | How have the layoffs at your company affected the number of employees who develop and enforce any policies to counter election-related misinformation and disinformation?. | Just last month several current and former employees from Meta’s trust and safety teams warned that layoffs could weaken Meta’s response to viral election misinformation and foreign influence campaigns,” the senators continued. | Just last month several current and former employees from Meta’s trust and safety teams warned that layoffs could weaken Meta’s response to viral election misinformation and foreign influence campaigns. | What are your company’s existing procedures to address the spread and amplification of election-related misinformation and disinformation? | Do you intend to hire any additional employees, including contractors, to address election-related misinformation and disinformation in advance of the 2024 elections? | How is your company specifically preparing for the possible proliferation of deceptive AI-generated content about elections and candidates on your platform?.

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- (2015-07-23T12:37:31-07:00, 2023-12-13T12:06:44-08:00):How the fight to stop election misinformation morphed into a free speech battle.

- (2020-02-21T13:44:49Z, unknown):The leaked mock-up images are not a part of that March update, according to a Twitter source. | Robert Mueller's report on Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election showed social media was a prominent way for trolls and bots to influence the electorate. | These include applying a label to tweets that have been "have been significantly and deceptively altered or fabricated," showing a warning to people before they retweet or like the tweet, and reducing the tweet's visibility, according to a Twitter blog post. | Twitter exploring ways to address misinformation before 2020 election Based on the images, the feature would append "Harmfully Misleading" to tweets. | Twitter confirmed that the images are part of the social media company's experiment with ways to tackle misinformation on its platform. | On March 5, Twitter said the company is planning a series of updates to its platform to target misinformation.

- (2020-10-09T16:00:07.000Z, 2020-10-09T21:20:23.000Z):The company will essentially give users a timeout, for example, before they can hit the button to retweet a post from another account. | Twitter took steps on Friday to slow the way information flows on its network, even changing some of its most basic features, as alarm grows that lies and calls for violence will sweep through social media in the weeks surrounding the presidential election. | The steps announced on Friday are the most dramatic in a series of moves made by social media companies in recent months to stem the flow of misinformation in the lead-up to the Nov. 3 election, and are likely to draw the ire of Twitter’s most famous user, President Trump.

- (2023-05-06T12:43:32, 2023-05-06T17:06:41.435):Election and security experts say the inconsistency of Twitter’s new verification system is a misinformation disaster waiting to happen. | The election commission applied weeks ago for a gray check mark — Twitter’s new symbol to help users identify official government accounts – but has yet to hear back from the Twitter, commission spokesman Nick Custodio said. | Twitter’s new policy invites government agencies and certain affiliated organizations to apply to be labeled as official with a gray check. | Election administrators across the country have struggled to figure out the best way to respond after Twitter owner Elon Musk threw the platform’s verification service into disarray, given that Twitter has been among their most effective tools for communicating with the public. | email sent to Twitter’s press office and a company safety officer requesting comment was answered only with an auto-reply of a poop emoji. | That’s troubling, Custodio said because Pennsylvania has a primary election May 16 and the commission uses its account to share important information with voters in real time. | The Philadelphia election commission applied weeks ago for the gray check mark — Twitter’s new symbol to help users identify official government accounts – but has yet to hear back from Twitter, commission spokesman Nick Custodio said. | Some are trying to take steps to ensure that voters can tell the difference between the official election office account and any impostors that might pop up in elections this year or during the 2024 cycle. | Election administrators across the U.S. say they’re concerned their offices will be targeted for fake Twitter accounts that will confuse or mislead voters after the social media platform altered its long-standing verification service. | That’s troubling, Custodio said, because Pennsylvania has a primary election May 16 and the commission uses its account to share important information with voters in real time. | So while the main Philadelphia city government account quickly received its gray check mark last month, the local election commission has not heard back. | “Even a minor setback, like no longer being able to ensure that our information on Twitter is verified, contributes to an environment that is less predictable and less safe.”Some government accounts, including the one representing Pennsylvania’s second-largest county, have purchased blue checks because they were told it was required to continue advertising on the platform. | To replace them, Musk told users that anyone could pay $8 a month for an individual blue check mark or $1,000 a month for a gold check mark as a “verified organization.”The policy change quickly opened the door for pranksters to pose convincingly as celebrities, politicians and government entities, which could no longer be identified as authentic. | But ever since the social media platform overhauled its verification service last month, the check mark has disappeared. | That’s made it harder to distinguish @phillyvotes from a list of random accounts not run by the elections office but with very similar names. | Twitter is dropping the ball on verification, the burden will fall on voters to double check that the information they are consuming and sharing is legitimate,” said Jill Greene, voting and elections manager for Common Cause Pennsylvania. | The account for the city commissioners who run elections, @phillyvotes, was the only one carrying a blue check mark, a sign of authenticity.

- (2023-07-07T11:00:09+00:00, 2023-07-06T23:48:39+00:00):Experts also suggest that these personnel cuts, coupled with YouTube’s policy change, signal a broader shift away from misinformation regulation ahead of the 2024 election. | Asked whether Meta will implement any new safeguards or make changes to existing regulations before the 2024 election, a spokesperson said, “We continue to enforce our misinformation policies.” | Meta and fact-checking In a fact sheet published ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Meta said it would prohibit advertisements that encourage people not to vote or question the election outcome’s legitimacy. | TikTok then uses the information to apply its misinformation policies. | TikTok did not respond to a request for comment on the study’s findings. | Experts in social media disinformation have also questioned the rationale behind the policy change. | Brown said these findings were observational, and researchers could not confirm a direct link between YouTube’s policy shift and the decrease in election misinformation shared across platforms. | The AP reported before the 2022 midterm elections that Meta was “quietly curtailing some of its safeguards designed to thwart voting misinformation.” | As the 2024 presidential election comes into focus, tech giants have struggled to balance curtailing misinformation with protecting users’ political speech. | The AP also said the platform had shut down the accounts of researchers examining political ads on Facebook; and that CrowdTangle, a tool available to newsrooms and researchers to identify trending posts and misinformation, “is now inoperable on some days.” | Looking ahead to 2024 Advocates warn that YouTube’s policy change might contribute to election misinformation spreading unchecked. | A Meta spokesperson directed us to a previous company statement included in the study: “These reports were based on a very small sample of ads, and are not representative given the number of political ads we review daily across the world.” | In June 2023, the video-sharing platform officially changed its election misinformation policy and announced that videos promoting election falsehoods will no longer be removed. | The news release said little about how YouTube will approach 2024 election misinformation, but that adjustments to its strategy would be made as needed. | YouTube’s recent policy change YouTube’s June 2 announcement cited the importance of open political debate as a key motivation for its policy change. | The move has concerned digital misinformation experts, who warn that misinformation that originates on YouTube could infiltrate the broader information ecosystem, especially in 2024. | Right-wing media platforms such as Parler, Gab and Truth Social could also pose a unique challenge for stopping misinformation because they do not regulate election-related content. | A recent YouTube policy change, which affects how the platform handles election-related misinformation, is an example of this tension. | How to write a good story in 800 words or less As a new award is named for Roy Peter Clark, we revisit the writing coach's tips on writing short. | YouTube didn’t provide evidence “whether or not the previous policy curtailed risk, and in that way, this seems arbitrary,” said Darren Linvill, a Clemson University professor and a lead researcher at the university’s Watt Family Innovation Center Media Forensics Hub. | Twitter’s handling of misinformation Twitter’s approach to misinformation has also shifted after its 2022 takeover by Elon Musk, who calls himself a free-speech advocate but has sometimes flip-flopped on some free speech-related decisions.

- (unknown, unknown):While the actions we ultimately take against a misleading post are driven by our rules, the public conversation is better served with diverse participation. |  Community Notes - Community Notes participants can write a note with additional information, to provide public context to the community on a post they feel is misleading. | This strike system is similar to our recent update to the Civic Integrity Policy. | As the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines expands, people continue to turn to Twitter to discuss what’s happening and find the latest authoritative public health information. | In India, we worked with the Ministry of Health to organize Vaccine Vartha, a weekly expert talk hosted on Twitter that enables vaccine experts to answer citizen questions. | In February 2021, we participated in a global WHO policy consultation to present Twitter’s views on finding and implementing “innovative ways and best practices to address health misinformation in the social media sector.” | As health authorities deepen their understanding of COVID-19 and vaccination programs around the world, we will continue to amplify the most current, up-to-date, and authoritative information. | Prompting you when you engage with a misleading post - When you try to share a post that was labeled for violating one of our policies, you will see a prompt to help you find additional context and consider whether or not to amplify the post to your followers. | Starting today, we will begin applying labels to Tweets that may contain misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines, in addition to our continued efforts to remove the most harmful COVID-19 misleading information from the service. | We are also introducing a strike system that determines when further enforcement action is necessary.