In an effort to combat hate speech and misinformation on its platform, Twitter announced a new policy that will label tweets that have been downranked due to violations of Twitter’s hate speech policy. This move comes as part of Twitter’s ongoing efforts to promote healthy conversations and reduce the spread of harmful content on its platform. “Our mission at Twitter 2.0 is to promote and protect the public conversation. We believe Twitter users have the right to express their opinions and ideas without fear of censorship. We also believe it is our responsibility to keep users on our platform safe from content violating our rules,” the company wrote in a blog post.
Twitter’s Hate Speech Policy: Visibility Limited Label for Downranked Tweets
Hate speech has been a persistent issue on social media platforms, including Twitter, and the company has been taking steps to address it. Previously, when tweets were found to violate Twitter’s hate speech policy, they were either removed or had reduced visibility through downranking. However, these downranked tweets were not clearly labeled, leading to potential confusion among users who may come across them. “Starting soon, we will add publicly visible labels to tweets identified as potentially violating our policies letting you know we’ve limited their visibility,” the blog mentioned.
With the new feature, Twitter aims to provide transparency and context for users who come across downranked tweets. When a tweet is downranked due to hate speech policy violations, it will be clearly labeled with a warning indicating that it has been deemed as violating Twitter’s policy on hate speech. The label will appear alongside the tweet, making it evident to users that the content has been flagged for potential violations.
Incorrectly Flagged Tweets
Twitter said that the users whose tweets are mistakenly labeled will be able to submit feedback if they think their tweet was incorrectly flagged, but says they may not receive a response, nor will it guarantee the tweet’s reach will be restored. “Authors will be able to submit feedback on the label if they think we incorrectly limited their Tweet’s visibility. Currently, submitting feedback does not guarantee you will receive a response or that your Tweet’s reach will be restored,” said Twitter in the blog post.
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