TWITTER'S "BLUE CHECK" USED TO SIGNAL author authenticity. Now, it's a way for peddlers of misinformation to appear trustworthy.
Dozens of well-known purveyors of misinformation-many of whom were only recently allowed back onto the platform-are paying $8 a month for a blue check through Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk's new verification system called Twitter Blue, lending them an air of legitimacy as the platform's relaxed moderation standards allow them to spread false narratives at scale.
NewsGuard analyzed the Twitter activity between March 1 and March 7, 2023, of 25 misinformation superspreader accounts that were "verified" by Twitter Blue. Each of the 25 accounts analyzed by NewsGuard had at least 50,000 followers and was either affiliated with a website that NewsGuard has assessed as having spread false information or found to have spread a prominent false narrative included in NewsGuard's proprietary Misinformation Fingerprints database, which provides detailed debunking of false narratives. NewsGuard found that the 25 accounts cumulatively posted 141 tweets (original and quote tweets) containing false, misleading and unsubstantiated claims.
These tweets were viewed nearly 27 million times and received more than 760,000 likes and retweets during this period, the NewsGuard analysis determined. The 25 accounts also cumulatively retweeted 35 posts containing misinformation, bringing the total number of tweets and retweets identified by NewsGuard for advancing false, misleading or unsubstantiated information to 176.
Out of those 25 accounts, 10 were reinstated under Musk after being suspended under Twitter's previous ownership.
Denne historien er fra April 28 - May 05, 2023 (Double Issue)-utgaven av Newsweek US.
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Denne historien er fra April 28 - May 05, 2023 (Double Issue)-utgaven av Newsweek US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Can Alternative Therapies Treat Cancer?
Doctor and breast cancer survivor Liz O'Riordan addresses misinformation around managing the disease
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
