Twitter rolls out new banner alerts on vaccine safety
26 April 2021, 17:34
The social media platform said it was its latest attempt to ensure people saw key information around the pandemic.
Twitter has begun showing users prompts about vaccine safety and eligibility as part of efforts to boost public information about the pandemic.
New banners will appear at the top of people’s feeds that will point them towards official information about Covid-19 vaccines, including offering links to the NHS.
Social media platforms have been under scrutiny over their efforts to battle misinformation during the pandemic, with a number of conspiracy theories and other harmful content found to be widely circulating online.
In response, platforms such as Twitter have used alerts, banners and other methods to promote factual information while also trying to label posts that contain disputed claims.
Twitter said these latest banners will be localised across 16 different countries, including the UK and Ireland, and will direct people to Twitter Moments on topics such as vaccine safety, eligibility and other themes.
The UK version of the prompt includes a number of tweets from NHS accounts and the Department of Health and Social on topics such as vaccine effectiveness, any potential side effects and what to do after being vaccinated.
“For over a year, people across the world have relied on Twitter for the latest information about Covid-19,” a Twitter spokesperson said.
“As vaccinations roll out across the globe, people are looking for up-to-date, localised information about vaccine safety, vaccine eligibility, and additional information from public health experts.
“We’re expanding our efforts to surface credible Covid-19 information with Home Timeline prompts featuring the latest information about Covid-19 vaccines.”
