Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Twitter To Flag Misleading Covid Vaccine Posts, Block Repeat Offenders
CBS News: Twitter Will Label Posts With Misleading Information About COVID-19 Vaccines
Twitter announced Monday that it will begin applying labels to tweets that include misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines and is introducing a strike policy to curb users from repeatedly violating those rules. In an effort to root out misinformation surrounding the coronavirus from its platform, Twitter said the labels will first be applied by human moderators. But the goal is to eventually use both humans and artificial intelligence to address content that spreads COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. (Bidar, 3/1)
AP: Twitter Cracks Down On COVID Vaccine Misinformation
“Through the use of the strike system, we hope to educate people on why certain content breaks our rules so they have the opportunity to further consider their behavior and their impact on the public conversation,” Twitter said in a blog post Monday. People with one violation — or strike — will see no action. Two strikes will lead to an account being locked for 12 hours. Five or more will get a user permanently banned from Twitter. (3/2)
Vox: Like Facebook, Twitter Keeps Tweaking Its Covid-19 Vaccine Misinformation Policies
Labels and strikes for false vaccine claims are not the only new misinformation strategy Twitter’s working on. In late January, the company also announced that it was developing a new tool called Birdwatch that’s designed to crowdsource expertise and beat back false narratives in a Wikipedia-like forum eventually connected to Twitter’s main app. The company, as it has throughout the pandemic, has been trying to elevate authoritative voices, like Anthony Fauci’s, to speak on vaccine-related issues. It’s also working with the White House to clamp down on vaccine misinformation. The new strategies to combat misinformation highlight how Twitter has had to adapt its approach as the nature of the pandemic has shifted. (Heilweil, 3/1)
In related news about the spread of misinformation —
AP: Some GOP State Lawmakers Help Spread COVID-19 Misinformation
Many Republican lawmakers have criticized governors’ emergency restrictions since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Now that most legislatures are back in session, a new type of pushback is taking root: misinformation. In their own comments or by inviting skeptics to testify at legislative hearings, some GOP state lawmakers are using their platform to promote false information about the virus, the steps needed to limit its spread and the vaccines that will pull the nation out of the pandemic. (Smyth and Bohrer, 3/1)
