Twitter has decided to step up its game in the fight against misinformation with Birdwatch, but critics complain about lack of information and transparency, and remind the social media platform that other interesting anti-misinformation tools are readily available.

In the midst of increasing discussions about the influence of fake news in public debate and electoral processes, Twitter is planning to launch a feature aimed at expanding the possibility of reporting false content called Birdwatch, which would apparently create a form of misinformation crowdsourcing database.

Despite Twitter’s good intentions, initiatives aimed at tackling misinformation are not new, and Brazil has several examples that could not only serve as a model, but also to indicate a path to be followed by the company.

“I’m always in favour of platforms launching tools that enable users to participate more proactively in monitoring things like misinformation,” said Jillian C York,  Director for International Freedom of Expression for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. However, Twitter hasn’t made clear yet “who the moderators are to be able to flag tweets and vote on whether they’re misleading.”

Full article at Cybernews’s website. Date of publication: 29/10/2020.