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Twitter testing tool for reporting fake news, but no plans yet to launch

Twitter is said to be testing a tool that allows users to report tweets containing fake news and other forms of bogus or misleading information …

However, the company told the Washington Post that it does not yet have any plans to roll it out more generally.

There are no current plans to launch any type of product along these lines.

As��TNW notes, the problem is an urgent one due to the number of Twitter bots that fake news spread widely and rapidly.

President Donald Trump has about 13.5 million fake followers. It’s important to realize that these bots can cause misinformation to spread like wildfire; with enough traction, such posts can start to show up on Facebook, as well as messaging services like WhatsApp, where it can be harder to trace fake content to its source and stop it from spreading.

Addressing the problem on Twitter therefore benefits other platforms too by attempting to remove misinformation before it propagates further. However, the company is said to be concerned about people abusing a report button to attempt to block legitimate news sources, as well as being accused of political bias.

A recent major update to the iOS app added real-time count updates and links opening in Safari.


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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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