Twitter deploys tool that allows users flag ‘fake news’

Social media giants, Twitter is aiming to combat the spread of fake news which has become a major issue on social media.

Reports say the platform is internally testing one solution: a tool that allows users to flag tweets that contain things like fake news and harmful content.

Speaking to the Washington Post, sources have said this feature is still in the prototype stage and there’s no solid plans yet on when or even if it will be released to the public.

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In its current form, the tool is being designed not only to report and stop the spread of fake news, but help curb the rampant abuse against users like women and minorities that Twitter has become known for in the last few years.

The idea is that users could select the flag option from like a drop-down menu that appears next to tweets.

Obstacles the social network is still struggling with include the feature being abused by those trying to stop the spread of legitimate news sources, as well as the millions and millions of bots on the service that are designed to repeatedly tweet the same message or retweet a questionable source to improve its standing.

 

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