Twitter sorry for labeling unrelated tweets with 5G-corona’ fact check
San Francisco, June 28 (IANS) Twitter has apologised for going into an overdrive in labeling certain tweets that actually did not violate its policies around 5G and Covid-19, saying it would soon fix the issue.
The micro-blogging platform said it is now working on to improve its algorithms how it labels tweets with problematic 5G or coronavirus content after several users reported their unrelated tweets are being flagged with a 5G and coronavirus fact-check label.
“In the last few weeks, you may have seen Tweets with labels linking to additional info about Covid-19. Not all of those Tweets had potentially misleading content associating Covid-19 and 5G,” the Twitter Support team tweeted on Saturday.
“We apologise for any confusion and we’re working to improve our labeling process”.
Twitter began fact-checking tweets that linked 5G and coronavirys earlier this month, by adding the label that reads “get the facts about Covid-19 with “No, 5G isn’t causing coronavirus” as its title.
Twitter said: “As we improve this process to be more precise, our goal is to show fewer labels on unrelated Tweets”.
With some accounts spreading false information about the fifth generation cellular network (5G), linking the technology with coronavirus, Twitter in April took a decision to take down such messages inciting harmful activities.
The move was part of Twitter’s effort to provide people with reliable information, connect with others, and follow what is happening in real time amid the coronavirus pandemic.
While conspiracy theories surrounding 5G started surfacing much before Covid-19 hit the world, the pandemic only increased their spread with some messages even blaming 5G for the disease.
“We have broadened our guidance on unverified claims that incite people to engage in harmful activity, could lead to the destruction or damage of critical 5G infrastructure, or could lead to widespread panic, social unrest, or large-scale disorder,” Twitter had said.
–IANS
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