Twitter announced that implement tags on tweets that violate the usage rules and have been restricted. The new implementation is part of the “Freedom of expression, not scope” strategy that Elon Musk proposed in the new era of the social network. In accordance with a company blog postTwitter will choose to reduce the scope of the contentbut not before specifying why he did it.
The labels are similar to what we saw prior to the arrival of Elon Musk. If we remember a similar measure was applied to the tweets of Donald Trump during the 2020 elections. The unsubstantiated accusations of electoral fraud, as well as the accusations of those who protested the death of George Floyd, were enough for Twitter to apply this feature.
“Restricting the reach of tweets, also known as ‘visibility filtering,’ is one of our actions that allows us to move beyond the binary ‘leave it or remove it’ approach to content moderation,” Twitter said. “Like other social platforms, we have historically not been transparent when we take this action,” the company said.
The tags include a caption stating that the tweet violates the usage rules, as well as a link to learn more about it. As with Donald Trump, limited-reach tweets will disable the function to answer, do retweetgive like or share.
Twitter will fight hate speech without censoring it
The company announced that the new labels provide a new level of transparency by showing which policy the tweet potentially violates. Content that violates the terms of use will have less visibility on the platform. This means that you will be excluded from search results, recommendations or trendsas well as in the author’s profile.
The tagged tweet won’t show up in tabs For you either Following, even if you follow the user. In case there is an error, the author of the tweet may appeal the decision, although this does not guarantee that the social network will respond or restore the scope. Let’s remember that Twitter works with less staff than before, so it is almost certain that the platform will automate moderation and only in specific cases will back down.
Limited Visibility Labels will initially apply to tweets that violate hate speech rules, although in the coming months they will expand to other areas. Twitter confirmed that this measure will not replace other moderation mechanismssuch as the removal of illegal content and the suspension of accounts that violate the terms of use of the platform.
Elon Musk wants his company to be transparent
The new mechanism comes after months of promises about more transparent management. Elon Musk’s Twitter 2nd has distinguished himself by criticizing the censorship that prevailed in previous years. The labels not only seek to maintain freedom of expression, but there is also the shadowban.
During an interview with BBC, Elon Musk denied that there is an increase in tweets promoting hate speech. The tycoon challenged the journalist to show him an example of content that violated the rules. However, the British media mentioned the studies carried out by organizations such as the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in the United Kingdom.