TAMPA, Fla. — There has been a lot of discussion about candidates declaring victory and we know that'll likely happen on social media. Twitter is trying to get ahead of any potential issues.
Twitter is adding what is essentially a "circuit breaker." This will be used if a candidate tweets they're going to win, or declaring victory.
Here's how it works: Twitter will identify the tweet and hide it. There will be a message that explains why the tweet is being hidden.
It will say that the tweet is sharing inaccurate results about the presidential race before state officials or other sources have made official projections. Or it will say the tweet is sharing inaccurate information that contradicts results and projections.
"One of the things researchers know and one of the things that we can see is that in social media spaces misinformation and disinformation can spread very quickly. In fact, it spreads a lot faster than the truth often times does," says Dr. Joshua Scacco, Associate Professor at USF.
This also makes it more difficult for people to interact with a tweet, like retweeting or liking. But it will give them information on where they can go to get official election results.
Facebook has a similar system in place that will tell you that votes are still being counted.
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