Twitter has acknowledged the growing problem of AI-generated and manipulative media being shared on its platform. To address this issue, the company has introduced a new experimental feature called Notes on Media. This feature is an expansion of Community Notes, which previously only covered text-based content. The aim of this update is to combat disinformation and prevent incidents like the viral spread of a fake image claiming to show an explosion near the Pentagon.
The official Twitter account for Community Notes announced the feature through a thread, providing details on how it works. Notes on Media will be exclusively available to contributors with a Writing Impact of 10 or higher. These users will now have the option to add notes specifically to images shared within a tweet, in addition to the existing option of adding notes to the text of the tweet itself.
The key distinction with this new feature is that when a note is added to a tweet, it is only visible to others when that specific tweet appears in their timeline. However, when a note is attached to an image, it will be visible across all tweets that contain that particular image. This approach is logical because manipulative images often go viral, with people sharing them along with their own comments. It also addresses the possibility of individuals creating fake accounts to share the same image with different accompanying text.
By implementing Notes on Media, Twitter aims to provide greater context and transparency, allowing users to identify manipulated or misleading images more easily. This experimental feature has the potential to help combat the spread of disinformation on the platform, protecting users from falling victim to false or misleading visual content.
Twitter has taken steps to ensure that users can distinguish between notes meant for images and those intended for tweets. When a note is attached to an image, it will be displayed slightly differently to readers. The text will clearly indicate that the note pertains to the image and may appear on other tweets featuring the same image.
According to Twitter, “notes attached to an image will automatically show up on both current and future tweets containing that image. However, the matching process is designed to prioritize accuracy rather than matching every visually similar image. The company acknowledges the need to strike a balance between expanding coverage and avoiding incorrect matches, and they are committed to refining this aspect.”
For now, the Community Notes for media feature is limited to tweets with single images. However, Twitter is actively working on extending the feature to include videos and tweets with multiple images/videos. While an exact timeline for this expansion has not been shared, if the initial testing goes smoothly, we can expect it to roll out in the near future. This enhancement will further enhance the platform’s ability to provide context and combat the spread of misinformation through various media formats.
