Skip to main content

Twitter’s latest features are all about curbing election misinformation

As the midterm elections approach in the U.S., one social media platform this week has announced further measures it will take to combat misinformation in the lead-up to this fall’s congressional elections.

On Thursday, Twitter published a blog post in which it detailed its plans on curtailing misinformation on its platform, especially as it relates to the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. Of particular note was a series of new misinformation-related features Twitter plans to launch for use in the months leading up to the midterm elections.

Twitter's mockup of its new elections-related Explore tab.
Twitter

These new features include event hubs for states, a national event page, a “dedicated Explore tab,” and new safeguards for accounts belonging to candidates, government officials, and journalists.

Twitter says that it has already started rolling out “state-specific event hubs” and that on these pages users can expect to see election information from state officials and local news outlets. Twitter will also add a “nationally focused Event page” that all U.S. users will be able to access.

There is also supposed to be a new election-specific tab in the Explore section (see above photo). This new tab is expected to include news and resources for specific states, curated national news from “reputable news outlets,” and public service announcements about voting. Those last two features will also be offered in English and Spanish.

Lastly, new protections are also expected to be put in place for accounts that belong to candidates, government officials, and journalists. These protective features include “more sophisticated detection and alerts” to quicken Twitter’s response to “suspicious activity,” faster support for account recovery, and improved login protections.

Twitter is also reinstating a few preexisting misinformation-related features. Twitter users can expect to see the return of Prebunks and candidate account labels. Prebunks, if you’re not familiar, are prompts placed by Twitter in your timeline that will preemptively address certain topics with more accurate information in an effort to reduce misinformation. This time around, Prebunks will be offered “in English, Spanish, and all other languages supported on Twitter” and will be available via users’ timelines (for U.S. users) and “in Search when people type related terms, phrases, or hashtags.”

Candidate account labels began their return this year in May and they’ll be here to stay until the general election ends. You’ll see them on candidate accounts for candidates running for congressional seats or for governor. The labels will be seen on both candidates’ profile pages and their individual tweets.

Editors' Recommendations

Anita George
Anita has been a technology reporter since 2013 and currently writes for the Computing section at Digital Trends. She began…
What is Mastodon? Here’s why everyone’s talking about this Twitter alternative
Series of four mobile screenshots showing Mastodon's sign-up process.

By now you've no doubt heard about Mastodon. It's a social media platform that's been bandied about as an alternative to Twitter, particularly among users who aren't comfortable with the direction Twitter is going in now that Elon Musk is at the helm.

In fact, since Musk first announced that he was planning on buying the popular microblogging platform, Mastodon has garnered quite a bit of attention and experienced significant growth. But though you've likely heard about Mastodon, you may not be familiar with how it works or haven't decided whether or not it would be a good fit for you if you ever choose to leave Twitter and need an alternative social media platform. Don't worry. We've got you covered. In this guide, we'll get you up to speed on everything you need to know about social media's buzziest new platform.
What is Mastodon?

Read more
Twitter’s SMS two-factor authentication is having issues. Here’s how to switch methods
A person's hands holding a smartphone as they browse Twitter on it.

It might be a good idea to review and change your two-factor authentication options for Twitter. Elon Musk's Twitter has another issue for its users to worry about.

Twitter has reportedly been having issues with its SMS two-factor authentication feature (2FA). According to Wired, beginning as early as this past weekend, some Twitter users have reported difficulties logging in to their Twitter accounts due to the app's SMS 2FA feature not working properly. Essentially, the feature relies on the app sending users an authentication code via text message, which they can then enter as a second step in the login process.

Read more
Twitter has reportedly suspended signups for Twitter Blue
Twitter Blue menu option on a white screen background which is on a black background.

The start of Elon Musk's tenure as owner of Twitter has not been without its struggles and chaos. And so far, the chaos Twitter currently finds itself in shows no signs of letting up anytime soon.

So it seems fitting that the latest news on the Twitter front is that signups for the microblogging platform's $8-per-month Twitter Blue subscription have reportedly been suspended. On Friday, Forbes reported that new signups for Twitter's newly revamped Blue subscription have apparently been disabled, having "verified that users have not been able to sign up to the service for more than an hour," and also citing that the option to sign up for Blue on the iOS app had disappeared as further proof of the suspension. The Verge also noted that some users may still see the option to subscribe, only to then be met with an error message. One of the editors at Digital Trends said the option to sign up for the service is just missing from his iOS app's menu, noted that it had been like that "since at least 8 p.m. PT last night," and shared the following screenshot:

Read more