Fake pictures, videos and other medias that are manipulated or “deceptively shared” will be banned by Twitter, especially if they post a serious safety risk. Twitter has just announced a new policy on manipulated media – which is a category that consists of deepfake videos, and also low-tech deceptively edited content.
As Twitter bans the outrageous offenders, Twitter will also label some tweets as “manipulated media” and a link to a “Twitter Moment” which will provide more context on what they mean. This process will be initiated a month from now, so on March 5th 2020.
These new rules within the policy will apply to media that has been altered by any means which practically includes anything that has been spliced, clipped, or overdubbed in a way that will change its meaning. This also includes fabricated footage depicting a real person; however, Twitter isn’t banning this kind of altered media it will simply label it as fake and provide more context.
“Each of our rules is meant to prevent or mitigate a known, quantifiable harm,” said Twitter trust and safety VP Del Harvey on a call with reporters. “We think about the likelihood and severity of harm that could result and the best ways to mitigate that harm.”
“Selective editing and cropping is something we consider to be media manipulation,” said Twitter head of site integrity Yoel Roth.
Roth confirmed that the rules would apply to some high-profile misleading content such as a tightly cut clip of the Vice President Joe Biden talking about race. As Twitter will also look at the accompanying text within the tweet and the account information – along with other factors – as they judge whether something is misleading.
“Our goal in making these assessments is to understand whether someone on Twitter who is just scrolling through their timeline has enough information to understand whether the media being shared in a tweet is or isn’t what it claims to be,” said Roth.
Twitter is taking one step forward to making sure all news and media posted on its platform isn’t manipulated to spread false information or fear within communities.
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