X/Twitter scraps feature letting users report misleading information
- 7 months ago
#englishnews #x
News Article :-
X, the company formerly known as Twitter, has removed the ability for people to report a tweet for containing misleading information just weeks before a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament in Australia.
Since 2021, users on X in countries including the US, Australia and South Korea had been able to flag tweets that they believed contained misleading information for review by staff at the company – separate to other processes the company has in place to report abuse or hate speech.
The feature had been available in the US, Australia and South Korea since August 2021 and was expanded to Brazil, the Philippines and Spain in early 2022, with the administration of the company at the time noting the importance of such a tool during elections. However, this tool has now been removed from those markets in the past week or two, according to digital platforms critic group Reset Australia.
In an open letter published on Wednesday, Reset Australia said it was “extremely concerning” that it was removed just weeks out from the referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament and was at “a disastrous point in time for Australia’s electoral integrity” if the tool had been removed deliberately.
X was contacted for comment and, in an auto-reply, said: “Busy now. Please check back later.”
The site’s owner, Elon Musk, made pushing against censoring content on platforms a key plank in his reason for taking over Twitter.
Correspondence between the Australian Electoral Commission and X obtained by Guardian Australia last week revealed frustration within thecommission about X’s failure to act to remove posts inciting violence against its staff and promoting disinformation about the electoral process.
The AEC commissioner, Tom Rogers, said veiled threats against staff made on social media platforms had been difficult to remove regardless of which platform they were on.
A spokesperson for the AEC said the commission had its own avenue to refer content to X.
“There is an avenue that still exists for the AEC to refer content to X, and we utilise it,” the spokesperson said. “However, we have a high threshold for matters we report to social media platforms and are realistic about it.
“The AEC understands the responsiveness of the AEC on the platform is always going to be swifter and likely more effective in countering incorrect claims regarding the electoral process than the actions of platforms.”
The spokesperson said there had been a shift in responsiveness from social media platforms in the past year, not just X.
“There are matters pertaining to what we would consider inciting violence, or veiled threats, that we believe should be actioned. This sometimes occurs but has not always been the case.”
In a report to the digital platforms lobby group Digi on its compliance with the voluntary industry misinformation and disinformation code in May, Twitter pointed to its community notes featu
News Article :-
X, the company formerly known as Twitter, has removed the ability for people to report a tweet for containing misleading information just weeks before a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament in Australia.
Since 2021, users on X in countries including the US, Australia and South Korea had been able to flag tweets that they believed contained misleading information for review by staff at the company – separate to other processes the company has in place to report abuse or hate speech.
The feature had been available in the US, Australia and South Korea since August 2021 and was expanded to Brazil, the Philippines and Spain in early 2022, with the administration of the company at the time noting the importance of such a tool during elections. However, this tool has now been removed from those markets in the past week or two, according to digital platforms critic group Reset Australia.
In an open letter published on Wednesday, Reset Australia said it was “extremely concerning” that it was removed just weeks out from the referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament and was at “a disastrous point in time for Australia’s electoral integrity” if the tool had been removed deliberately.
X was contacted for comment and, in an auto-reply, said: “Busy now. Please check back later.”
The site’s owner, Elon Musk, made pushing against censoring content on platforms a key plank in his reason for taking over Twitter.
Correspondence between the Australian Electoral Commission and X obtained by Guardian Australia last week revealed frustration within thecommission about X’s failure to act to remove posts inciting violence against its staff and promoting disinformation about the electoral process.
The AEC commissioner, Tom Rogers, said veiled threats against staff made on social media platforms had been difficult to remove regardless of which platform they were on.
A spokesperson for the AEC said the commission had its own avenue to refer content to X.
“There is an avenue that still exists for the AEC to refer content to X, and we utilise it,” the spokesperson said. “However, we have a high threshold for matters we report to social media platforms and are realistic about it.
“The AEC understands the responsiveness of the AEC on the platform is always going to be swifter and likely more effective in countering incorrect claims regarding the electoral process than the actions of platforms.”
The spokesperson said there had been a shift in responsiveness from social media platforms in the past year, not just X.
“There are matters pertaining to what we would consider inciting violence, or veiled threats, that we believe should be actioned. This sometimes occurs but has not always been the case.”
In a report to the digital platforms lobby group Digi on its compliance with the voluntary industry misinformation and disinformation code in May, Twitter pointed to its community notes featu