The ongoing pandemic has seen misinformation spreading like wildfire as people tried to come to grips with a deadly disease and the uncertainty it brought with it.
As misinformation began spreading, social media firms scrambled to institute policies that would make sharing misinformation and disinformation a ban worthy offense.
The latest to institute such a policy is Twitch. We have to admit that this policy has come into play very late in the game. This might be because Twitch says those spreading misinformation aren’t prevalent on its platform and this is sort of understandable because Twitch users have a habit of shooting down anything that isn’t 100 percent accurate or truthful.
“We’ve partnered with over a dozen researchers and experts to understand how harmful misinformation spreads online and ensure our approach to mitigating its risks in our community is effective for Twitch. We’ve learned that Harmful Misinformation Actors account for a disproportionate amount of damaging, widely debunked misinformation online,” Twitch wrote in a blog post.
Together with the researchers and experts it worked with, Twitch has identified thecharacteristics of those spreading misinformation. The platform says that these bad actors have dedicated their online presence to persistently sharing widely disproven and broadly share harmful misinformation topics.
“We’ve selected these criteria because taken together they create the highest risk of harm including inciting real world harm. We will only enforce against actors who meet all three of these criteria, and our Off-Service investigations team will be conducting thorough reviews into each case. You can report these actors by sending an email to OSIT@twitch.tv with the account name and any available supporting evidence,” the live streaming platform added.
It’s important to note that Twitch will not only be policing its own platform, but looking beyond its borders as well. This is because bad actors rarely limit their actions to one platform and observing what is happening on other platforms can help identify them before they have a chance to plant themselves.
“While harmful misinformation is not currently prevalent on Twitch, we understand that it can evolve very quickly, and will continue consulting with experts to ensure our approach to curbing its potential harm is effective—as we do with all of our safety policies at Twitch,” the firm concluded.
