The rampant spread of conspiracy theories on Twitter has pushed Finland’s top health authority to stop using the platform to disseminate its public-health messages.
(Bloomberg) — The rampant spread of conspiracy theories on Twitter has pushed Finland’s top health authority to stop using the platform to disseminate its public-health messages.
A lack of proper tools on the social media site means the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is unable to effectively weed out false and deliberately misleading information, as well as inappropriate comments, from replies to its posts, according to spokeswoman Marjo Loisa. It’s taken the decision to stop sharing to its almost 100,000 followers, freeing up resources from content moderation.
“Our tweets and their comments are used as a platform for spreading disinformation and Twitter doesn’t provide proper tools to block this,” Loisa said in an emailed response to questions. “This has grown to be a major problem during the pandemic.”
The authority also raised concerns over fake accounts on Twitter after Elon Musk began scaling back content moderation and other safeguards since acquiring the company late last year. Musk has sought to reassure concerned European Union officials that he’ll follow tough standards around hate speech and disinformation laid down in the bloc’s new Digital Services Act.
The problems with disinformation are not equally evident on other social media sites, such as Meta Platforms Inc.’s Instagram and Microsoft Corporation’s LinkedIn, where interaction continues to be “constructive and meaningful,” Loisa said.
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