Twitter is deploying Birdwatch, an anti-disinformation tool.

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Matt Rourke / AP / SIPA

Twitter rolled out a tool called Birdwatch on Monday to help its users tackle misinformation.

Those who wish can flag certain messages and add context notes to them.

These will initially only be visible on a separate site.

Ultimately, the goal is to make them accessible and display them "below tweets for the global audience of Twitter," said Keith Coleman, a vice president of the company, in a statement.

The platform expects for this that there is "a consensus within a broad and diverse base of collaborators".

🐦 Today we're introducing @Birdwatch, a community-driven approach to addressing misleading information.

And we want your help.

(1/3) pic.twitter.com/aYJILZ7iKB

- Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) January 25, 2021

A community-based tool

The social network has carried out a preliminary investigation which indicates that the Twittos prefer that these notes come from the community rather than from the central authority of Twitter.

They would also appreciate if they provided context to help them understand a tweet, rather than telling them that one message is true while another is false.

Keith Coleman noted that a community-based system will be challenging;

“It must be resistant to attempts at manipulation so that it is not dominated by a simple majority of contributors or prejudices.

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The power of social media over freedom of expression

This anti-disinformation tool is launched about two weeks after the suspension of the Twitter account of the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, after the riots on the Capitol on Wednesday, January 6.

Facebook, Snapchat and Twitch had done the same.

Heads of state and NGOs had expressed their concern about the power of social networks on freedom of expression.

Donald Trump regularly addressed his 88 million followers on Twitter.

The founder and boss of the platform, Jack Dorsey had considered that the decision was good but that it constituted a "failure on our part to promote a healthy conversation".

Keith Coleman, for his part, said the decision sets a potentially “dangerous” "precedent" as it shows "the power that an individual or a company has over part of the global public conversation.

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