John, The election is 5 days away. If Trump loses, he may refuse to concede. And worse still -- he could take to Twitter to incite violence as we’ve seen him do before. That would be catastrophic. But there’s one simple measure Twitter could take immediately: place a delay on Trump's tweets so they can be reviewed first. This could stop a call to violence going viral before it snowballs, and it could keep the election and the public safe. The idea is quickly gaining momentum -- let's tell Twitter to act before it's too late: Tech companies already review Trump’s content, and have even taken down earlier posts. But it could take several hours before the post is flagged or removed. Placing a delay would let them act decisively *before* false and potentially harmful content is shown to the public. Both Twitter and Facebook have taken several important measures to avoid election disinformation and violence -- they could easily add this to the list. And it doesn’t have to only apply to Trump -- they could apply it for Biden too. Networks use a delay for live TV -- platforms could do the same. And with so much at stake, this could be a game-changer to stop Trump's deluge of lies. But we need everyone’s help to make it happen -- add your name: Our community has been at the forefront of the fight to stop disinformation and hate speech. Let’s do it again, as we face one of the greatest threats of our time.  Thanks for all that you do, More information: Want to fight online voting misinformation? A new study makes a case for targeting Trump tweets The Verge, October 5, 2020 |
||
