Starting today, Twitter users in the US will see two large notices at the top of their feeds that aim to "preemptively debunk" the misinformation related to the vote. The startling messages are designed to fend off the flood of false claims about the 2020 election.
One warning warns users that "they may encounter misleading information" about mail-order voting, while the other attempts to avoid online election-related chaos by warning that US election results may be delayed.
Delayed results are a very likely outcome in an election that will see more votes cast in the mail than ever before. States have different rules regarding when ballots sent by post can begin to be counted, making it possible that official results may actually take some time to trickle - a situation that is wise to normalize in advance.
The instructions will direct Twitter Moments users to gather authoritative information on both topics. The alerts will also appear in searches for relevant terms and hashtags.
Social media companies have been quick to prepare their platforms for the unique challenges of a deeply controversial American election in the midst of a worsening national health crisis. While these efforts have been mixed - some weak, some more robust - providing everyone with proactive alerts that grab attention is a solid step up from the easy-to-miss disinformation "labels" that are attached to false claims on Twitter and Facebook.
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