Twitter adds crowdsourced fact checks to images

Twitter expands its Community Notes feature to let its users add context to images and tweets that might be fake

In an effort to expand its crowdsourced fact-checking program, Twitter has expanded the service to include images, after a fake Pentagon explosion picture went viral on the site.

Twitter's Community Notes, created for users to add context to potentially misleading content on Twitter, will now let users contribute to a specific image by adding information below it. The information will then appear below the tweet to inform other users regarding the tweet.

Raters and readers will see notes that authors marked as “about the image” slightly differently, so it’s clear to everyone that they should be interpreted as about the media, not the specific Tweet. Ratings can help identify cases where a note may not apply to a specific Tweet. pic.twitter.com/EDkSfRfxHv

— Community Notes (@CommunityNotes) May 30, 2023

 

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In the announcement by the company, Twitter emphasized the popularity of AI-generated fake images doing the rounds on the platform. Such images have created fear, amusement and confusion. Last week, a fake Pentagon explosion picture went viral on Twitter and was shared by many verified accounts, pretending to be affiliated with Bloomberg News.

Using the new feature, Twitter Community Notes users will be able to add context to a tweet or an image. At the moment the tool only works for single images, though Twitter says it is working on expanding it to videos and posts with multiple images.