Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of site integrity,
acknowledged as much: “We will not be able
to take enforcement action on every tweet
with incomplete or disputed information
about COVID-19.”
Roth said the platform has historically applied
a “lighter touch” when enforcing similar
policies on misleading tweets but said
the company is working to improve the
technology around the labels.
In February, Twitter said it would add warning
labels to doctored or manipulated photos
and videos after a recording of Democratic
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was slowed
down to make it appear as though she slurred
her words. But even with obviously fake
videos, such as one showing Joe Biden lolling
his tongue and grinning that was shared
by President Donald Trump, the company
has since used the label only twice, in part
because of technical glitches.
And Twitter has not added any warning
labels to politicians’ tweets that violate its
policies but are deemed in the “public interest”
under a policy the company announced in
June 2019.
Under the newest COVID-19 rules, Twitter
will decide which tweets are labeled — only
taking down posts if they are harmful.
Politicians’ tweets will be subject to the
notices, which will be available in roughly
40 languages.
Some of the questionable tweets will run with
a label underneath that directs users to a link
with additional information about COVID-19.