Freedom of speech is dead…or at least it is on Twitter. Jack Dorsey and the rest of the Twitter gang have decided that they’ll determine who is and who is not speaking truthfully. Forget about what people may want to talk about. If it is not truthful, it will be treated as misinformation.
The social media platform’s CEO must be a fan of baseball. However, it appears as he’s being a bit more generous. Five strikes and you’re out.
Anyone who tweets, whether it is a link that they are sharing or of their own verbiage, it is subject to being labeled as “misleading information.” Although this can apply to anything and everything, they’re specifically focused on dialogue concerning the coronavirus vaccine.
To ensure that they have plenty of backup, they’ll link the labels to information from government bodies, including the CDC.
Those who want to share misinformation will be identified as violating the misinformation policies. Those who continue to violate the policies after having tweets labeled will be penalized accordingly.
Essentially, it’s Twitter’s way of giving everyone a fair warning. They want everyone to play by the rules. So, they’re treating themselves more like an information site than a social media site. And to think that most people were using the site as a way to talk and share and debate.
There are human and automated review systems in place. The problem with this is that the human reviewers tend to be extremely liberal-leaning. As for the automated reviews, they don’t seem to have a firm grasp of language or intention.
Should someone talk about misinformation in a way that is up for debate, they could easily find themselves in violation. This means that Dorsey has decided what people can even talk about. Although the vaccines are a major talking point these days, it would be better to avoid talking about it entirely.
Apparently, the idea of requiring people to go to the CDC for accurate information regarding COVID simply doesn’t occur to Dorsey. His ego is so inflated that he believes that his platform is the one where people will go for the facts.
The rollout of the review systems will start with the English language and encompass other languages over time.
There are five categories for misleading information, which is all shared on the site’s policies. They will label tweets if it has to do with misleading affiliations as well as misinformation about the nature of the virus, the efficacy of treatments, regulations, or the prevalence of the virus.
Essentially, unless you’re sharing specific facts that have been 100% verified as being true, don’t tweet about it. Don’t ask questions. Don’t talk about rumors. Just don’t even bother being social about the most important topic affecting our society. That’s not what Twitter is for anymore, apparently.
The strike system is a bit harsh, especially for those who do want to engage in any kind of meaningful banter about the virus or the vaccines. The first strike won’t result in anything more than a label of misinformation. The second and third strikes will lead to a 12-hour account lock. The fourth strike will be a 7-day account lock. Then, if there’s a fifth violation of the policy, it will result in permanent suspension.
Imagine the people who use social media tools that schedule their Twitter posts and, then, go on vacation. The first few tweets discuss the possibilities of a vaccine. Then, a few more talk about origins and what the likelihood is to see the eradication of the disease. Within five tweets, a person could find their entire account suspended. Followers are lost and there’s no way to fight back.
Twitter needs to take a step back and evaluate itself. They’re a social media site, not a news site, and not a government site. Who are they to dictate misinformation? They’ve gone too far and their strike system should be ditched somewhere out in left field.
