>>> IN THE WORDS OF JUDGE AMY BERMAN JACKSON THE TRUTH STILL
MATTERS.
MATTERS. THE TRUTH DOES STILL MATTER.
BUT ONLY IF YOU SEE IT.
AND TWITTER IS TRYING TO MAKE
SURE YOU DO.
NBC NEWS HAS NEW EXCLUSIVE
DETAILS ABOUT THE COMPANY’S PLAN
TO ACTUALLY FIGHT
MISINFORMATION.
MISINFORMATION. JOINING US NOW TO DISCUSS DILLON
BUYERS, THE SENIOR MEDIA
REPORTER AND BEN COLLINS WHO
BROKE THIS STORY.
WALK US THROUGH THIS, BEN.
>> SO TWITTER ON MARCH 5th IS
GOING TO START LABELLING
MISINFORMATION SHARED BY
POLITICIANS.
POLITICIANS. IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE A COUPLE OF
THINGS WE FOUND, WE WERE LEAKED
SOME SCREEN SHOTS OF A TEST
THEY’RE DOING WITH USERS.
THAT WAS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ON
INTERNET.
INTERNET. WE SAID ARE THESE REAL AND THEY
SAID THERE WILL BE A BIG RED BOX
UNDER POLITICIANS OF ALL
STRIPES.
STRIPES. IF YOU’RE SPREADING HEALTH
INFORMATION LIKE THE CORONAVIRUS
OR ANTI-VAC STUFF THAT WILL BE
LABELED.
LABELED. THAT’S A POSSIBLE ITERATION OF
WHAT’S COMING ON MARCH 5th.
NOT A LOT OF THINGS MAKE ME FEEL
THERE’S SOME HOPE.
BUT THE BAD GUYS HATED THIS
STUFF, LIKE THE QANON PEOPLE,
BUT THERE’S HOPE HERE.
>> BEN IS FEELING OPTIMISTIC
ABOUT IT, BUT ISN’T IT A
SLIPPERY SLOPE.
SLIPPERY SLOPE. DOES A DO NOTHING DEMOCRAT COUNT
AS MISINFORMATION?
AS MISINFORMATION? >>RIGHT.
>>RIGHT. SO THIS IS INHERENTLY THE
PROBLEM WITH COMMUNITY BASED
MODERATION.
MODERATION. WHERE THERE’S NO MUTUALLY SHARED
CONCEPTION OF WHAT IS TRUE, WHAT
IS FACTS OR FALSE.
I SEE TWO CHALLENGES HERE.
ONE, IF YOU OPEN UP TO THIS THE
BROAD COMMUNITY OF USERS IF YOU
BASICALLY MAKE IT SO THAT
EVERYONE WHO USES TWITTER CAN
MODERATE THIS CONTENT, YOU’RE
GOING TO RUN INTO PEOPLE WHO ARE
GOING TO GAME THIS SYSTEM MUCH
THE SAME WAY THAT PEOPLE GAME
TWITTER OR FACEBOOK AS IT EXISTS
TODAY.
TODAY. IF YOU HAVE -- YOU KNOW, IF YOU
LIMIT IT TO THE JURY OF WHAT YOU
DEEM, YOU KNOW, TO BE VERIFIED
USERS WHO HAVE SORT OF
CREDIBILITY ON THIS FRONT,
YOU’RE GOING TO RUN INTO THE
SITUATION WHERE THE INFOWARS
PEOPLE OR MAYBE SOME PEOPLE ON
THE LEFT ARE GOING TO ACCUSE
THAT JURY OF HAVING AN INHERENT
BIAS.
BIAS. FACEBOOK WHEN IT LAUNCHED THE
NEWS PLATFORM WHEN THEY ACCEPTED
BREITBART HAD TO DEAL WITH IT.
WHAT IS CREDIBLE, WHAT IS NOT,
WHAT IS TRUE OR NOT.
SO I THINK YOU’LL RUN INTO
PROBLEMS.
PROBLEMS. HOWEVER, I AGREE WITH BEN THAT
THIS IS AT LEAST A SIGN OF HOPE.
FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE ARE WORKING ON
THIS AND I THINK ANSWERING THIS
PROBLEM IS IMPORTANT THOUGH.
>> GETTING INTO THIS ISN’T JUST
ABOUT RIGHT WING CONSPIRACIES OR
SOMETHING.
SOMETHING. YOU KNOW, FAR TO THE LEFT.
BECAUSE JUST YESTERDAY, MIKE
BLOOMBERG’S CAMPAIGN PLAYED A
DOCTORED VIDEO FROM THE DEBATE.
HIS CAMPAIGN POSTED IT.
I WANT TO SHARE IT.
>> I’M THE ONLY ONE HERE THAT I
THINK HAS EVER STARTED A
BUSINESS, IS THAT FAIR?
>> NOW, THAT WASN’T TRUE. CRICKETS.
CRICKETS. THAT WAS OBVIOUSLY THERE FOR
DRAMATIC EFFECT.
DRAMATIC EFFECT. THE CAMPAIGN HAD SAYS IT WAS THE
TONGUE IN CHEEK BUT WHEN
SOMEBODY SENDS YOU THAT CLIP,
THAT LOOKS GOOD FOR THE MAYOR
AND BAD FOR EVERYBODY ELSE.
IT’S NOT TRUE.
WOULD THAT GET FLAGGED?
>> WE REACHED OUT TO TWITTER,
THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE, THIS IS
SOMETHING WE’D FLAG AS NOT REAL.
THAT’S THE THING.
LIKE THAT CLIP.
THERE WAS ABOUT LIKE A SECOND OR
TWO OF SILENCE, NOT 20 SECONDS
OF SILENCE OR WHAT.
WITHOUT THE CRICKETS PEOPLE
MIGHT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY AND
THAT’S HOW DISINFORMATION STEAM
ROLLS.
ROLLS. IF NOBODY WILL STOP IT, IT CAN
CHANGE NARRATIVES OR CHANGE THE
OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION.
>> IT’S VERY RARE THAT BEN IS
HERE AND FEELING HOPEFUL AND
OPTIMISTIC.
OPTIMISTIC. SO I’M GOING TO TAKE IT AS A BIG