Windows 10: New labels for government and state-affiliated media Twitter accounts

Brink · Aug 6, 2020

Our mission is to serve the public conversation and an important part of that work is providing people with context so they can make informed decisions about what they see and how they engage on Twitter.

Twitter provides an unmatched way to connect with, and directly speak to public officials and representatives. This direct line of communication with leaders and officials has helped to democratize political discourse and increase transparency and accountability. We also took steps to protect that discourse because we believe political reach should be earned not bought. In 2019, we banned all state-backed media advertising and political advertising from Twitter. Today weâre expanding the types of political accounts we label.

We will add new labels to the following categories of Twitter accounts:

Accounts of key government officials, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokespeople, and key diplomatic leaders. At this time, our focus is on senior officials and entities who are the official voice of the state abroad

Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their senior staff

How do we define government accounts for these new labels?

Our focus is on senior officials and entities that are the voice of the nation state abroad, specifically the account categories listed above. Labels will only be applied to accounts from the countries represented in the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. For transparency and practicality, we are starting with a limited and clearly-defined group of countries before expanding to a wider range of countries in the future. We believe this is an important step so that when people see an account discussing geopolitical issues from another country, they have context on its national affiliation and are better informed about who they represent. At this time, we're not labeling the personal accounts of heads of state, as these accounts enjoy widespread name recognition, media attention, and public awareness. Institutional accounts associated with their offices that changeover depending on election results will be labeled, however.

In general, we're focused on those within the respective administrations underneath the head of state that offer its policy perspective abroad.

How do we define state-affiliated media accounts for these new labels?

State-affiliated media is defined as outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution. Unlike independent media, state-affiliated media frequently use their news coverage as a means to advance a political agenda. We believe that people have the right to know when a media account is affiliated directly or indirectly with a state actor. State-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US for example, will not be labeled. As part of the development of this process, we consulted with a number of expert groups, including members of the Digital and Human Rights Advisory group in Twitterâs Trust & Safety Council.

We will also no longer amplify state-affiliated media accounts or their Tweets through our recommendation systems including on the home timeline, notifications, and search. Government accounts listed in category one are not affected by this change.

To offer even more context to the public, clicking the labels on both categories of accounts directs people to an article explaining the policy and referring them to the Twitter Transparency Report for additional information.

Notification and appeals process

Weâll notify any account thatâs labeled and if the account owner believes weâve made a mistake, they can reach out to us directly.

Next steps

We plan to continue expanding this approach to additional countries over time and look forward to providing additional updates as those plans take shape.
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Source: New labels for government and state-affiliated media accounts

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Brink · Aug 6, 2020

Facebook now labeling state-controlled media and block their ads soon

We want to help people better understand who’s behind the news they see on Facebook. Several months ago, we announced our plan to label media outlets that are wholly or partially under the editorial control of their government, and today we’re starting to apply labels to those state-controlled media outlets. We’re providing greater transparency into these publishers because they combine the influence of a media organization with the strategic backing of a state, and we believe people should know if the news they read is coming from a publication that may be under the influence of a government.

And to ensure we’re equally transparent when it comes to paid content from these publishers, we will begin labeling ads from these publishers later this year.

State-controlled media outlets rarely advertise in the US. Nevertheless, later this summer we will begin blocking ads from these outlets in the US out of an abundance of caution to provide an extra layer of protection against various types of foreign influence in the public debate ahead of the November 2020 election in the US.

Where the Labels Will Be Shown

The labels will appear globally in the Ad Library Page view, on Pages, and in the Page Transparency section. In the US, the label will also start to appear on posts in News Feed over the course of the next week.

Later this summer, we’ll apply the label to ads from state-controlled media outlets, starting with a few outlets and adding more over time.

Our Policy Criteria

To inform our policy criteria, we consulted more than 65 experts around the world specializing in media, governance, and human rights and development. The input we received from these organizations was crucial to understanding the different ways and degrees to which governments exert editorial control over media entities. We know that governments continue to use funding mechanisms to control media, but this alone doesn’t tell the full story. That’s why our definition of state-controlled media extends beyond just assessing financial control or ownership and includes an assessment of editorial control exerted by a government.

Based on these consultations and research, we developed our own policy criteria to determine whether a publisher is wholly or partially under the editorial control of a government.

We look at several factors that may indicate editorial control by a government, including:

Mission statement, mandate, and/or public reporting on how the organization defines and accomplishes its journalistic mission

Ownership structure such as information on owners, stakeholders, board members, management, government appointees in leadership positions, and disclosure of direct or indirect ownership by entities or individuals holding elected office

Editorial guidelines such as transparency around sources of content and independence and diversity of sources

Information about newsroom leadership and staff

Sources of funding and revenue

Governance and accountability mechanisms such as correctional policies, procedure for complaints, external assessments and oversight boards

If we determine that there are enough protections in place to ensure editorial independence, we will not apply the label. Publishers looking to prove their independence must be able to demonstrate at least:

A statute in the host country that clearly protects the editorial independence of the organization

Established procedures, processes, and protections at the media organization to ensure editorial independence

An assessment by an independent, credible, external organization finding that the statute has in fact been complied with and established procedures have been followed

We also consider country-specific factors, including press freedom and we consult open-source research conducted by academics and leading experts.

If an organization believes we have applied the label in error, they can submit an appeal. Through the appeal, they can provide additional documentation, which we will review against our definition.

As we roll these labels out to more publishers over time, we welcome feedback and will continue to consult with experts and refine our approach.
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Source: Labeling State-Controlled Media On Facebook - About Facebook

Brink · Aug 6, 2020

New Twitter synthetic and manipulated media policy started March 5

Overview

You may not deceptively share synthetic or manipulated media that are likely to cause harm. In addition, we may label Tweets containing synthetic and manipulated media to help people understand their authenticity and to provide additional context.

You should be able to find reliable information on Twitter. That means understanding whether the content you see is real or fabricated and having the ability to find more context about what you see on Twitter. Therefore, we may label Tweets that include media (videos, audio, and images) that have been deceptively altered or fabricated. In addition, you may not share deceptively altered media on Twitter in ways that mislead or deceive people about the media's authenticity where threats to physical safety or other serious harm may result.

We use the following criteria as we consider Tweets and media for labeling or removal under this policy as part of our ongoing work to enforce our rules and ensure healthy and safe conversation on Twitter (additional information is available below):

1. Is the content synthetic or manipulated?

In order for content to be labeled or removed under this policy, we must have reason to believe that media, or the context in which media are presented, are significantly and deceptively altered or manipulated. Synthetic and manipulated media take many different forms and people can employ a wide range of technologies to produce these media. In assessing whether media have been significantly and deceptively altered or fabricated, some of the factors we consider include:

whether the content has been substantially edited in a manner that fundamentally alters its composition, sequence, timing, or framing;

any visual or auditory information (such as new video frames, overdubbed audio, or modified subtitles) that has been added or removed; and

whether media depicting a real person have been fabricated or simulated

We are most likely to take action (either labeling or removal, as described below) on more significant forms of alteration, such as wholly synthetic audio or video or content that has been doctored (spliced and reordered, slowed down) to change its meaning. Subtler forms of manipulated media, such as isolative editing, omission of context, or presentation with false context, may be labeled or removed on a case-by-case basis.

We will not take action to label or remove media that have been edited in ways that do not fundamentally alter their meaning, such as retouched photos or color-corrected videos.

In order to determine if media have been significantly and deceptively altered or fabricated, we may use our own technology or receive reports through partnerships with third parties. In situations where we are unable to reliably determine if media have been altered or fabricated, we may not take action to label or remove them.

2. Is the content shared in a deceptive manner?

We also consider whether the context in which media are shared could result in confusion or misunderstanding or suggests a deliberate intent to deceive people about the nature or origin of the content, for example by falsely claiming that it depicts reality. We assess the context provided alongside media to see whether it makes clear that the media have been altered or fabricated. Some of the types of context we assess in order to make this determination include:

The text of the Tweet accompanying or within media

Metadata associated with media

Information on the profile of the account sharing media

Websites linked in the Tweet, or in the profile of the account sharing media

3. Is the content likely to impact public safety or cause serious harm?

Tweets that share synthetic and manipulated media are subject to removal under this policy if they are likely to cause serious harm. Some specific harms we consider include:

Threats to the physical safety of a person or group

Risk of mass violence or widespread civil unrest

Threats to the privacy or ability of a person or group to freely express themselves or participate in civic events, such as:

Stalking or unwanted and obsessive attention

Targeted content that includes tropes, epithets, or material that aims to silence someone

Voter suppression or intimidation

While we have other rules also intended to address these forms of harm, including our policies on violent threats, election integrity, and hateful conduct, we will err toward removal in borderline cases that might otherwise not violate existing rules for Tweets that include synthetic or manipulated media.

We also consider the time frame within which the content may be likely to impact public safety or cause serious harm, and are more likely to remove content under this policy if we find that immediate harms are likely to result from the content’s presence on Twitter.

Note: We may also take action on synthetic and manipulated content under our non-consensual nudity policy (such as pornographic media altered to insert the faces of people not actually involved) or other parts of the Twitter Rules.

Labeling and removal

In most cases, if we have reason to believe that media shared in a Tweet have been significantly and deceptively altered or fabricated, we will provide additional context on Tweets sharing the media where they appear on Twitter. This means we may:

Apply a label to the content where it appears in the Twitter product;

Show a warning to people before they share or like the content;

Reduce the visibility of the content on Twitter and/or prevent it from being recommended; and/or

Provide a link to additional explanations or clarifications, such as in a Twitter Moment or landing page.

In most cases, we will take all of the above actions on Tweets we label.

Media that meet all three of the criteria defined above—i.e. that are synthetic or manipulated, shared in a deceptive manner, and is likely to cause harm—may not be shared on Twitter and are subject to removal. Accounts engaging in repeated or severe violations of this policy may be permanently suspended.

* Other parts of the Twitter Rules apply and may lead to the removal of the content, particularly where there is high likelihood of severe harm, such as a threat to someone’s life or physical safety
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Source: Synthetic and manipulated media policy

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Brink · Aug 6, 2020

New Twitter PWA update released - June 22, 2020

New

DM Quick Access: We’re testing ways to allow you view and send DMs without having to navigate to the DM inbox. Starting with a small % globally, we’re allowing users to view their DM inbox and conversations through a docked drawer when using Twitter in widescreen.

Drafts: Not quite ready to send that Tweet? You can now save it as a draft, or schedule it to send at a specific time - all from the Tweet composer! See it in action

Lists: Customize Lists you own by adding a banner image. You can upload and preview the image through the edit list flow.

Updated

Internet Explorer 11 support: twitter.com no longer supports Internet Explorer 11. Please see this Help Center article for a list of supported browsers.

Lists: Find new accounts to add to your Lists quickly with the suggested accounts tab. Find it under manage members when editing your List.

Navigation: You can now use a middle mouse button to open links in new tabs quickly and easily.

Retweets with comments: After launching the Retweets with comments timeline last month, we’ve made some updates! We’re now including counts for Retweets with and without comments on all timelines. We’re also testing a variation on the “Retweets” label on the Tweet detail page to make it more obvious when there are Retweets with comments, so keep an eye out!

Fixed

Account Registration: Fixed an issue preventing movement through the registration flow when attempting to reuse a previously entered password.

Emoji Picker: Fixed an issue where opening the emoji picker on Firefox broke the Tweet and DM composers.

Lists: Twemoji will now render properly on the List detail screen.

Media Upload: Attempting to upload media we don’t support or non-media files will no longer leave you in a bad state.

Media Upload: Fixed a bug where videos could fail to upload randomly sometimes.

Tweet Compose: Using the Cmd/Ctrl + Enter keyboard shortcut when the composer is in an invalid state will no longer attempt sending the Tweet.

Tweet Compose: When adding Tweets to a thread you’ve started on mobile, the composer will no longer scroll you too far up the thread.

User Profile: Previously, if a user’s Name and Display Name were the same, the “Follows you” indicator on the user’s profile page or profile hovercard wouldn’t be shown. It will now display.

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Source: Release Notes

Download for Windows 10: Twitter app | Microsoft Store

Windows 10: New labels for government and state-affiliated media Twitter accounts

New labels for government and state-affiliated media Twitter accounts

New labels for government and state-affiliated media Twitter accounts

New labels for government and state-affiliated media Twitter accounts

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