Birdwatch will be launched as a pilot in the US first.
A new tool to tackle disinformation: On 25 January 2021, Twitter announced the introduction of a new tool called Birdwatch, to tackle disinformation on its platform. In a first phase, Birdwatch will only be available as a pilot in the US.
How will it work? Birdwatch will allow people to identify information in tweets they believe is misleading, and write notes that provide informative context. Initially, these notes will only be visible on a separate site, although Twitter aims to make them visible directly on the tweets themselves at a later stage. On the site, pilot participants will be able to rate the helpfulness of notes added by contributors.
Twitter commits to a transparent process: Twitter pledges to make all the data contributed to Birdwatch publicly available, and to have an open process in building the algorithms that power it – such as the reputation and consensus systems. Twitter is inviting all members of the public to sign up to the program.
