Twitter (TWTR) Expands Test Feature, to Limit Misinformation


Twitter


TWTR

recently announced that it would expand a test feature on its social media platform to Spain, Brazil and the Philippines.

The test feature in the news enables users to flag misleading content on Twitter.

In August last year, Twitter had introduced the pilot test of this particular feature to reduce misinformation from being spread via its platform.

The pilot feature allowed users to flag misleading tweets about politics, health (specifically related to COVID-19) and others.

It was first tested in Australia, South Korea and the United States.

Twitter Ramps Up Violation Enforcement Options

Twitter continues to initiatives to safeguard its platform and boost trustworthiness as well as continues to remove fake pages and accounts.

Per a study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, after examining approximately 126,000 tweets shared by around 3 million people on Twitter within the timeline of 2006 to 2017, it was found that about 70% of false news are more likely to be retweeted by people, as reported in a

Reuters

article.

Apart from the test feature mentioned above, Twitter unveiled a ‘Birdwatch’ feature to flag potentially misleading tweets (in January 2021).

The test feature helped users to provide context to tweets that they might find false or misleading, though those notes were held on a different website.

The pilot program, when launched, was available to a small set of users on a first-come, first-serve basis. No priority was given to high-profile users.

Before the 2020 U.S. elections, Twitter updated its policies, including specific rules on how the company will handle tweets making claims about election results before they were official.

Twitter specified that it would prioritize labeling tweets about presidential elections or other highly-contested races, where there might be a significant chance of misinformation spreading.

In April 2019, the platform rolled out an option to report misleading tweets about voting and elections to safeguard the ongoing elections in Europe and India during the time.

Twitter has also been undertaking steps to increase the collective health and civility of public conversation.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Currently, Twitter holds a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Twitter’s fiscal 2022 earnings has moved southward by a penny in the past 60 days to 88 cents per share.

TWTR has declined 16.3% in the past year compared with the

Internet – Software

industry’s plunge of 33% and the

Computer and Technology

sector’s return of 15.7% in the past year.

Some better-ranked stocks from the Zacks Computer and Technology sector are

Broadcom


AVGO

, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and

Apple


AAPL

and

Advanced Micro Devices


AMD

, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here


.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Broadcom’s fiscal 2022 earnings has moved upward by 6.5% to $33.03 per share over the past 60 days.

Broadcom’s shares have rallied 29.8% compared with the Zacks

Electronics – Semiconductors

industry’s rise of 25.1% and the Computer and Technology sector’s growth of 15.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Advanced Micro Devices’ fiscal 2022 earnings has moved upward by three cents to $3.31 per share in the past 60 days.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices have surged 53% compared with the Zacks Electronics – Semiconductors industry’s rise of 25.1% and the Computer and Technology sector’s growth of 15.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Apple’s fiscal 2022 earnings has moved upward by five cents to $5.82 per share in the past 60 days.

AAPL has rallied 35.4% compared with the Zacks

Computer – Mini computers

industry’s rise of 36.6% and the Computer & Technology sector’s growth of 15.7% in the past year.


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