What is fake news?
Pascal Froissart, a French rumour specialist, defines the term «fake news» as «false news knowingly released in the media». Twitter has chosen the following criteria to determine whether a media outlet has been misleadingly altered:
- Modifying the content fundamentally alters its composition, sequence, rhythm or framing; ;
- The addition or removal of visual or auditory information, such as new video images, dubbed data, or modified subtitles; ;
- The content, which represents a real person, has been fabricated or simulated.
New rules imposed by Twitter
After determining what constitutes fake news on its platform, Twitter has published new rules to exclude artificial or manipulated content. The aim is to make the platform a safer space for conversations and the dissemination of information.
Since 5 March 2020, the platform has already removed tweets containing manipulated and false content. On Sunday 29 March, Twitter removed two tweets from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's official account in which he questioned the lockdown measures put in place to combat coronavirus. To go even further, Twitter is reducing the visibility of the tweet on its network and preventing it from being recommended.
The platform also warns that it provides additional explanations or clarifications, in a Twitter Moment or on a specific page, with the context of the tweet in question.
If you would like to learn more about fake news and how to recognise it, please visit our dedicated article.
