Twitter users will not be able to like, respond to, or forward any tweet that it deems to be 'misinformation' with the tweet also being moved further down search lists.
Shadow-banning tweets, posts, videos and google results is nothing new. It is the preferred way that social media companies deal with stuff they don't like. Simply not showing the post to other people, or not allowing them to share it, is particularly effective as the tech giants can perform this censorship without alerting the user to what they're doing.
Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed that his Twitter would be a 'free speech' platform, giving false hope to millions who have been silenced by the ultra left-wing company, but this latest move comes since Musk announced he was purchasing the company, indicating that free speech is a relative term in the mind of Musk and Twitter management.
The newest censorship policies are said to be aimed at fighting against what it calls “misinformation,” especially those stories with potentially harmful or dangerous content, and its new system still leaves the tech giant as the determinator of what constitutes “misinformation.”
These new policies are part of the platform’s broad efforts to provide users with what it 'calls accurate information, especially in times of crisis.' The new misinformation censorship policy will allow Twitter to limit the spread of “misleading” information about various crises including pandemics and other 'health issues', conflicts, natural disasters, and other humanitarian issues.
The alleged goal is to control the spread of tweets that contain misleading information, by blocking potentially deceptive information from appearing in Twitter’s search or even in the platform’s timeline.
New warning labels will also be added to tweets that contain potentially deceiving information and debunked claims, as decided by Twitter and its partners. Twitter will prioritize warning label additions to tweets from prominent accounts such as political figures, verified accounts, and those from state-sponsored media outlets.
Twitter users will not be able to like, respond to, or forward any tweet that receives a warning label, essentially putting a tweet into a black hole on the platform. The company feels that by limiting user interaction with potentially misleading tweets, they will be able to also limit the harm done while so-called preserving free speech.
The platform has been criticised by both conservative Republicans who oppose censorship and Democrats who accused the platform of being too soft on censorship. As a result, Twitter decided not to delete potentially deceptive tweets, but to limit their spread and add warning labels.
Since that time, the need for the new policies have been championed, as both Ukrainian and Russian officials have used their Twitter accounts to share fabricated stories and misinformation regarding the war between their countries. These content moderation policies might not last long, however. Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, is in the process of acquiring Twitter.