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Twitter has launched a pilot program called Birdwatch, a “community-based approach” to identifying misleading information in tweets. ZDNet reports that users will be able to write notes to provide context for tweets. The notes then get rated by participants for their helpfulness.
“Twitter, due to its 'instantaneousness', has been abused many times to spread inaccurate information, and nowadays there are barely any tools to help us distinguish fake news. Birdwatch can be a powerful ally to help users and stop the spread of misinformation,” commented Avast Security Evangelist Luis Corrons.
In the first phase of the pilot, Birdwatch will remain a separate site from Twitter, until the company has the confidence that the notes will be helpful and appropriate. The pilot will be available to US-based individuals with accounts in good standing, verified credentials, a US phone carrier, and two-factor authentication.
Corrons says, “The crowdsourced approach has its benefits, although there is one caveat; the same people spreading misinformation will try to abuse and game the system, they could use it as a weapon to discredit proper news. So far the pilot program has taken some measures, such as making sure the people allowed are not bots (verified credentials) or having their account secured (2FA).”
Twitter plans to create the new site as an open build, allowing all contributed data and code to be publicly available. Could the open approach Birdwatch is taking lead to a new era of crowd-based information ratings? Our own twitter launches birdwatch address misinformation avast
