Jack Dorsey said Tuesday that Twitter flagged 300,000 tweets in an effort to combat disinformation surrounding the presidential election this year.
‘More than a year ago, the public asked us to provide additional context to help make potentially misleading information more apartment. We did exactly that, applying labels to over 300,000 tweets from October 27-November 11, which represented about .2 per cent of U.S. elected-related tweets,’ Dorsey said during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
Of the flagged tweets, 456 were also covered by a warning message and limited in sharing capabilities. About 74 per cent of the people who viewed those tweets could only view them if they opted to after a label or warning message was applied.
‘We applied labels to add context and limit the risk of harmful election misinformation spreading without important context, because the public told us they wanted us to take these steps,’ he added in his opening remarks.
Dorsey was preemptively addressing questions sure to arise over Twitter flagging dozens of President Donald Trump’s tweets related to the election – especially those questioning the results.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey revealed Tuesday that the platform has flagged more than 300,000 tweets related to the 2020 presidential election
Dorsey shared this information as he joined a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing virtually to answer questions related to his social media platform
Dorsey along with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckberg joined senators for another hearing related to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which prevents their companies from being held liable for what their users’ post
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said in his opening remarks: ‘Section 230 as it exists today has got to give,’ adding, ‘change is going to come’
In Chairman Lindsey Graham’s opening statement, he showed a tweet from Trump’s former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley questioning the validity of mail-in ballots, which was flagged by Twitter as misleading.
He also showed a tweet from Iranian Leader Ayatollah Khamenei denying the Holocaust, which was not flagged.
Social Media’s biggest giants again headed to Capitol Hill – virtually – on Tuesday to testify and face questions on Section 230 as Republicans lament Facebook and Twitter engage in selective censorship of conservative voices.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey faced verbal assails from lawmakers as Democrats focused on their platforms’ amplification of misinformation and Republicans on suppression of some of their biggest voices – including President Trump.
‘Section 230 as it exists today has got to give,’ Graham said, adding, ‘change is going to come.’
Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal agreed that there needs to be an overhaul of how social media is viewed in the eyes of the law.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, from being held liable for what their users post – instead acting as a third party for publication of any speech.
These tech giants, however, have implemented policies where they moderate what content is permitted and fact check specific posts, even if it does not include threatening jargon.
The senators are deeply divided by party over the integrity and results of the election itself.
Prominent Republican senators have refused to knock down Trump’s claims of voting irregularities and fraud, as misinformation disputing Biden’s victory has flourished online.
Twitter has flagged dozens of Trump’s tweets related to the election, including his claim that he actually won over Joe Biden – who most media outlets called for the Democrat earlier this month
Trump said he won Pennsylvania due to ballots being excluded, which Twitter flagged with: ‘Multiple sources called this election differently’
They flagged other tweets from Trump claiming ‘widespread voter fraud’ with: ‘This claim about election fraud is disputed’
Graham, a close Trump ally, has publicly urged: ‘Do not concede, Mr. President. Fight hard.’
Zuckerberg and Dorsey promised lawmakers last month that they would aggressively guard their platforms from being manipulated by foreign governments or used to incite violence around the election results – and they followed through with high-profile steps that angered Trump and his supporters.
Twitter and Facebook have both slapped a misinformation label on some content from Trump, most notably his assertions linking voting by mail to fraud.
On Monday, Twitter flagged Trump’s tweet proclaiming ‘I won the Election!’ with the note: ‘Official sources called this election differently.’