Twitter has announced that it will place misleading tweets from official accounts about the Ukraine war behind warning notices.
The change follows increased scrutiny of the social media platform after the war sparked a fresh wave of misinformation, sometimes from government sources.
Twitter has limited content from more than 300 Russian government accounts, including President Vladimir Putin.
But it also faces concerns about freedom of expression.
Under the company’s new “crisis” policy, Twitter will prioritize flagging false posts from high-reach accounts, such as state media or political figures, while retaining them for “accountability” reasons.
Users have to click through the alert to view the post, and Twitter said it would also change its search and explore capabilities to avoid amplifying false tweets.
“While this first iteration focuses on international armed conflicts, beginning with the war in Ukraine, we plan to update and expand the policy to include additional forms of crises,” Yoel Roth, head of security and protection at Twitter wrote in a blog post announcing the changes.
Twitter said examples of problematic posts include false or misleading claims about war crimes, false information about the international response, and false allegations about the use of force.
The company said it would rely on multiple sources to determine when claims are misleading. Strong comments and first-person accounts are among the types of tweets that would not be challenged by the policy, it said.
The new guidelines come just weeks after Twitter’s board of directors approved a $44bn (£34.5bn) takeover bid from billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who has called for less moderated speech on the platform.
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