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Twitter to label altered media with warning, remove harmful material

Twitter and other technology services like Google and Facebook are under intense pressure to prevent interference in the 2020 U.S. elections.
Credit: AP
FILE - This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Twitter will begin to label and in some cases remove doctored or manipulated photos, audio and videos that are designed to mislead people. The company said Tuesday that the new rules prohibit sharing synthetic or manipulated material that's likely to cause harm. 

Material that is manipulated but isn't necessarily harmful may get a warning label. Deciding what might cause harm could be difficult to define, though. The new guidelines go into effect March 5. 

Twitter said posted a survey in six languages, and said the majority of those who responded replied that misleading tweets should be labeled, but there was disagreement over if tweets should be removed or not. 

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Twitter and other technology services like Google and Facebook are under intense pressure to prevent interference in the 2020 U.S. elections after they were manipulated in four years ago by Russia-connected actors. Twitter considers safety threats to a person or group to be serious harm along with widespread civil unrest and mass violence. 

Google's Youtube updated it's policy, reminding the public that they ban election-related "deepfake" videos, the Associated Press reported. 

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