Untrend Twitter

Tell Twitter to stand up for election integrity and temporarily pause its 'trending topics' feature. [Mozilla]( Twitter's 'trending topics' feature is amplifying disinformation that may threaten the integrity of the U.S. elections. Join us and tell Twitter to turn off 'trending topics' until January. [Sign the Petition]( Hello, The U.S. elections are just 61 days away and disinformation is ramping up on social media platforms, including Twitter. Twitter's 'trends' feature has caught the attention of misinformation experts as one mechanism by which misinformation can gain virality, before the fact checkers even notice. Addressing all aspects of how disinformation (intentional manipulation of the truth with the intent to deceive) and misinformation (inaccurate information that is unintentionally spread) are shared and amplified on Twitter will take time, but inaction isn't an option with election season in full swing. Now is the time to be bold, and that's why we're asking Twitter to take immediate action and pause its 'trending topics' feature. Will you join us? [Sign the petition to Twitter: Pause 'trending topics' until until election results are certified in January 2021](. [Pause Trending Topics]( Twitter has taken a number of groundbreaking steps to address disinformation on the platform and has committed specifically to focus on how content, including disinformation, is discovered and amplified.1 But there's a long way to go. Just this past weekend, a completely inaccurate representation of Center for Disease Control (CDC) data about Coronavirus deaths was trending for hours and was seen and shared by millions before Twitter enforced its own policies and removed the tweet that sparked the trend.2 In light of concerns like these, Twitter made changes to its 'trending topics' feature on Tuesday, but the changes likely wouldn't have prevented the situation above. And that's just one of many examples. In fact, some Twitter employees have been making the case over the past two years that Twitter cannot fully address disinformation on the platform until it eliminates trends.3 We've already seen floods of disinformation all over social media, and it's likely that it's a warm-up for the disinformation storm we'll see between now and the November 3rd elections. And, there's an increasing expectation that election results may not come right away, so the days and weeks afterwards could be particularly vulnerable to false claims about election integrity and the results. In this environment, 'trending topics' could have a substantial impact on the country's understanding of the election outcomes. [Sign Now]( In recent days, tech journalists including Ben Collins4 and Charles Arthur5 started the conversation about how Trends contribute to the spread of misinformation on Twitter itself, and former Mozilla fellow Renee DiResta has jumped in to point out that the issue is bigger than the U.S. elections saying, "Curation and recommendation structures need a fundamental overhaul."6 The organization Sleeping Giants7 and actor Sacha Baron Cohen8 echoed this call for Twitter to act and began using the hashtag #UntrendOctober in their posts. Twitter responded on Tuesday with an announcement that it will be adding context around trends — context that relies on a combination of algorithmic input and its curation team to decide which tweets are reflective of the trend.9 Additional descriptions written by its curation team promise to be clearly sourced, but that is unlikely to limit the spread of misinformation from trending topics. We also have concerns that Twitter's new process will not match the speed of viral trends and misinformation operations. As Kate Starbird, a University of Washington professor of human centered design and engineering, points out, "Twitter's 'trending topics' are a common target of information operations."10 As early as 2017, The New York Times noted that if something is 'big' on Twitter, it is almost guaranteed that it will get coverage elsewhere.11 That's the problem: When people engage with content, even to correct the record, the algorithm further amplifies the content — including disinformation — and that means more people will see it.12 [Untrend Twitter]( Facebook ended its own 'Trending Topics' feature in 2018 due to challenges in how topics were chosen and moderated.13 It comes down to this: We urge Twitter to live up to its own commitments for the open web and minimize harm on its platform by pausing trending topics, even if it means limiting ad revenue generated from potentially harmful and damaging content. [Tell Twitter: Pause 'trending topics' until at least election results are certified](. Thanks for joining us, Ashley and the team at Mozilla References: - Twitter, "[Twitter Public Policy]( Twitter, July 30, 2020 - Bruce Y. Lee, "[Twitter Removes Claim About CDC And Covid-19 Coronavirus Deaths That Trump Retweeted]( Forbes, August 31, 2020 - Kate Conger & Nicole Perlroth, "[Twitter to Add Context to Trending Topics]( New York Times, September 1, 2020 - Ben Collins, "[Tweet]( Twitter, August 30, 2020 - Charles Arthur, "[Tweet]( Twitter, August 30, 2020 - Renee DiResta, "[Tweet]( Twitter, August 30, 2020 - Sleeping Giants, "[Tweet]( Twitter, August 30, 2020 - Sacha Baron Cohen, "[Tweet]( Twitter, August 30, 2020 - Liz Lee & Frank Oppong, "[Adding More Context To Trends]( Twitter blog, September 1, 2020 - David Ingram, "[Critics want Twitter to halt its trending lists. Instead, Twitter will make tweaks.]( NBC News, September 1, 2020 - Farhad Manjoo, "[How Twitter Is Being Gamed to Feed Misinformation]( New York Times, May 31, 2017 - Bridget Todd, "[Black and Latinx People Are Primary Targets for Disinformation. We Must Fight Back]( Newsweek, August 31, 2020 - Kate Conger & Nicole Perlroth, "[Twitter to Add Context to Trending Topics]( Connect with us [YouTube]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Thanks for reading! You're receiving this email because we think you’re neat, AND you subscribed to hear from us. If our emails aren’t sparking joy, we’ll understand if you [unsubscribe.]( You can also [update your email preferences]( at any time. [Mozilla]( [Donate to Mozilla]( | [Download Firefox]( 331 E. Evelyn Avenue Mountain View CA 94041 [Legal]( • [Privacy](