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What is Twitter Birdwatch and can anyone be a fact checker?
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(Pocket-lint) – Twitter has a community-based fact-checking program, called Birdwatch in the US. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Twitter Birdwatch?
In January 2021, Twitter launched a pilot program, called Birdwatch, which is designed to help prevent the spread of misinformation on the platform. It allows users to verify tweets by submitting valuable pop-up notes, but it’s currently only available to a select number of US participants.
Twitter has struggled to prevent users from posting misinformation and propaganda. He recently began labeling some tweets with false or misleading information about the US presidential election, but many argued that the job wasn’t enough. Birdwatch may be the answer.
“We believe this approach has the potential to respond quickly when misleading information spreads, adding context that people trust and find valuable,” Twitter explained in a post. blog post posted January 25, 2021. “Eventually, we aim to make ratings visible directly on tweets for Twitter’s global audience, where there is consensus from a broad and diverse set of contributors.”
The company said it interviewed more than 100 people who said the Birdwatch ratings helped them better understand the tweets.
How does Twitter Birdwatch work?
To start, Birdwatch allowed around 1,000 users to participate in the pilot to add context. They can post ratings to tweets and rate ratings submitted by other participants. But the notes are not yet publicly visible on Twitter. They are only available on the Birdwatch website and in the pilot participant timelines. To promote transparency, all contributions to Birdwatch are visible on the Birdwatch site, even if an account’s tweets are protected.
Since November 2021, Birdwatch allows the use of aliases so that users contributing to the program can protect their identity.
Sample Birdwatch Notes
Here is an example of a tweet with Birdwatch notes:
How to register to participate in Birdwatch
Go here to apply and find out the eligibility requirements.
During the first phase, Birdwatch is limited to a small test group. To participate, your account must have a verified phone and email address, two-factor authentication enabled, and no recent breach notices. Twitter said it will admit accounts at random, and it prioritizes accounts that have been recently active on Twitter and tend to engage with different tweets than existing participants.
Written by Maggie Tillman. Edited by Luke Baker.
