Elon Musk and millions of users have been asking for it for years.

Twitter has announced that it will begin testing an "edit" function that will allow its tweets to be corrected after they are posted.

The network and its new boss Parag Agrawal said they wanted to strike a balance to ensure the meaning of a tweet couldn't be totally changed after the fact.

"Since everyone is asking… Yes, we've been working on an editing feature since last year!"

“tweeted the communication account of the Californian company.

👀 pic.twitter.com/I13wE3eLdn

— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) April 5, 2022


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The new button will first be tested by subscribers to Twitter Blue, a premium service that gives certain privileges for $3 per month, such as the option to un-tweet.

The platform thus wants to determine “what works, what does not work and what is possible”, she specified.

Not influenced by Elon Musk

"No, we didn't come up with this idea thanks to a poll," the company also joked, referring to the new member of its board of directors, the billionaire Elon Musk, who carried out several controversial polls on his account. Twitter.

The boss of Tesla has become the largest shareholder of Twitter by taking a 9.2% stake in the capital, announced on Monday.

"We considered the practicalities (of an edit button), but we probably never will," Twitter founder Jack Dorsey said in an interview with Wired magazine in January 2021. He ceded the general manager position at Parag Agrawal last November.

Jay Sullivan, vice president of consumer products at Twitter, explained the principles guiding the network's thinking.

“Without parameters like a time limit, controls or transparency on what has been changed, (the function) edit could be hijacked.

Protecting the integrity of the public conversation is our priority.

»

For example, if the author of a viral pro-vaccination tweet modifies it three days later to praise the merits of hydroxychloroquine, this would pose a big problem, especially for all the people who “liked” the original tweet.

In short, Twitter must ensure that this new function does not contribute to misinformation, in particular by offering a history of modifications.

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