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Twitter is testing a way to report misleading tweets

Misinformation is still a big problem on social networks.

Queenie Wong Former Senior Writer
Queenie Wong was a senior writer for CNET News, focusing on social media companies including Facebook's parent company Meta, Twitter and TikTok. Before joining CNET, she worked for The Mercury News in San Jose and the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon. A native of Southern California, she took her first journalism class in middle school.
Expertise I've been writing about social media since 2015 but have previously covered politics, crime and education. I also have a degree in studio art. Credentials
  • 2022 Eddie award for consumer analysis
Queenie Wong
Twitter is testing a way to report misleading tweets

Twitter, like other social networks, continues to grapple with fake news including about the COVID-19 vaccines.

James Martin/CNET

Twitter said Tuesday that some users in the US, South Korea and Australia will have an option to report a tweet as misleading as part of its efforts to combat misinformation.

The social media company is testing the feature and said it's still trying to determine if it's an "effective approach." Twitter and other social networks are still grappling with false claims on their platforms including posts about the COVID-19 vaccines and the situation in Afghanistan. Politicians, including US President Joe Biden, have been urging tech companies to do more to tackle the problem.

"We may not take action on and cannot respond to each report in the experiment, but your input will help us identify trends so that we can improve the speed and scale of our broader misinformation work," Twitter said in a tweet.

The company has also been experimenting with other ways to combat misinformation including a community forum called Birdwatch that allows users to flag misleading tweets and add more context. 

To report a tweet, users click on the three grey dots on the right side of a tweet. There will be an option to "Report Tweet." After clicking on that, people who are part of the test group will see an option to report the tweet as misleading. Twitter didn't say how many users will have access to this feature.

See also: How the Taliban is using Twitter to 'fish for legitimacy' as it reclaims Afghanistan