Twitter is beefing up its efforts to get everyone to gain access to authoritative information about COVID-19 vaccines. The micro-blogging site announced today that it"s rolling out a fact box in your timeline where you"ll see links to sources like public health experts for key information on vaccine safety, efficacy, and the latest updates.
The company noted in a tweet that COVID-19 vaccinations are more widely available now. Here"s Twitter"s official announcement:
As COVID-19 vaccinations become more widely available, we want you to have access to the latest vaccine info in your country.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) April 26, 2021
This week you’ll see a prompt in your timeline that links to sources about vaccine safety, efficacy, and news from public health experts.
At the moment, around 42.5% of U.S. residents have received at least a COVID-19 shot, as per USA Today. Twitter"s new resource comes in the form of a fact box that contains the latest information about the vaccines in a particular country. It"s visible on both Android and iOS. When you tap on the fact box, you"ll get redirected to a new event page where you"ll see information about the vaccines. The fact box will go live in your timeline this week.
Today"s move is the firm"s latest effort to rid its platform of misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines. Late last year, Twitter required users to remove posts containing potentially harmful and misleading content about COVID-19 vaccinations. In March of this year, it also labeled tweets with false claims about the vaccines.
Twitter is the latest big tech firm to help promote COVID-19 vaccines. YouTube most recently launched a series of PSA campaigns promoting COVID-19 vaccine. Facebook also announced a new feature designed to let people get vaccinated in the U.S.