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Blue checkmarks on X are ‘superspreaders of misinformation’ about Israel-Hamas war
(www.theverge.com)
i think you mean superspreaders of engagement
this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
260 points (91.1% liked)
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
The vast majority of viral misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war being posted on X (formerly Twitter) is being pushed by verified users, according to a recent study by NewsGuard — a for-profit organization that rates the trustworthiness of news sites.
In one week, the 250 posts collectively received 1,349,979 engagements (including likes, reposts, replies, and bookmarks) and were viewed over 100 million times globally.
“In addition to the appearance of credibility afforded to premium users by a blue badge, they are algorithmically boosted by the platform,” said NewsGuard.
“While the exact details of how X boosts and downranks (lowering a post’s position in users’ feeds) is undisclosed and therefore unclear, NewsGuard’s analysis suggests that the boost is significant, if not crucial, to claims going viral.” The service began removing blue checkmarks from legacy verified accounts who refused to pay for premium subscriptions back in April.
NewsGuard’s findings echo an NBC News report from October 10th that showed how volunteers behind the community fact-checking feature struggled to keep up with the flood of misinformation that followed the Hamas attack on Israel, causing notes to take hours or days to approve and some posts not getting labeled at all.
NewsGuard says it also identified false or unsubstantiated information about the Israel-Hamas war on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, and more, but the study focused on X because it has publicly reduced its moderation efforts.
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Blue checkmarks are everyone. It could be you, me, your dumb uncle or a dog. Of course they spread bullshit.
It’s almost like a hell of a “whoops”… like this result was an accident that just so happens to benefit others… totally random…