US Election 2020: Twitter introduces 'pre-bunks' for 'baseless' claims on mail-in voting

American microblogging and social networking service, Twitter said on October 26 that it is introducing “pre-bunks” that are pop-up messages at the top of all users’ feeds to regulate misinformation about voting by mail and election results before the US presidential elections on November 3. As per reports, this is also the one-of-a-kind move by the company because debunking is not the traditional reaction to the existing tweet that has false information. 

Twitter's head of site integrity Yoel Roth also tweeted informing about the site placing messages on the posts to remain ahead of the “baseless” and “most common” claims about the polling before they actually take place. He also added that research has revealed staying ahead of the false information is a “powerful” way to maintain resilience. This is also the latest move by social media sites to regulate the wave of misinformation during the campaign including US President Donald Trump’s efforts to question the credibility of mail-in ballots. 

Twitter had previously announced that it would take down the posts that promote violence or urge people to interfere with the results of US Election 2020 or even the operation of polling places. The micro-blogging website has reportedly also said that the candidates for the office shall not claim their victory in the election before it is “authoritatively called”. The claims before the results would be labelled with a link to the election page of the platform. 

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Facebook to put emergency measures

With US Elections 2020 being less than two weeks away, tech giant Facebook is reportedly planning to put together emergency measures to regulate the viral content in case of possible unrest caused in the country, reported Wall Street Journal on October 25 citing its sources. As per the media outlet, Facebook is intending to calm the possible violence that can rock the countries with certain tools that will be working differently for all at-risk regions. 

Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone reportedly said that the people at the company have spent several years in building safe and more ‘secure elections’. From applying lessons to hiring experts, Stone said that new teams have been put in place at the California-based company to work around various potential scenarios during or in the aftermath of November elections. 

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