Twitter has announced that it will place inaccurate messages regarding the Ukraine war from official accounts behind warnings.
The shift comes after the social media site came under more scrutiny after the conflict unleashed a fresh wave of disinformation, some of which came from official sources.
More than 300 Russian official accounts, including President Putin’s, have already had their material restricted on Twitter.
However, it raises questions about free speech.
Twitter’s new “crisis” procedures prioritize labeling false messages from accounts with a large following, such as state media or official government accounts, but keeping them for “accountability” reasons.
To read the post, users will have to click through the warning message, and Twitter will limit the ability to like, retweet, or share the information.
To prevent magnifying bogus posts, Twitter announced it will adjust its search and explore tools.
“While this first version is focused on international armed conflict, starting with the war in Ukraine,” Twitter’s head of security and safety, Yoel Roth, said in a blog post announcing the changes, “we want to update and expand the policy to encompass various types of crises.”
Incorrect or inaccurate charges of war crimes, false information about the international reaction, and false allegations of use of force, according to Twitter, are examples of problematic messages.
The corporation stated that it will use numerous sources to assess whether or not reports are false. According to the guideline, strong criticism and first-person narratives are among the sorts of tweets that will not be disputed.
The new restrictions are being implemented only weeks after Twitter’s board of directors approved a $44 billion (£34.5 billion) buyout offer from billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who has urged for less controlled speech on the network.
He has stated that he will lift Twitter’s controversial ban on former US President Donald Trump, which was imposed due to the potential of more violence.
