Social media users are sharing screenshots of a tweets that feature Birdwatch notes – part of Twitter’s content moderation policies launched to help combat misinformation on its platform – and saying they’ve been implemented since Elon Musk finalized his acquisition of the company on October 27, 2022. The Birdwatch program, however, was implemented in January 2021 and expanded to more users in early October 2022.
“Hasn’t even been 48 hours since Elon officially bought Twitter and he already fact checked Joe Biden,” reads a post featuring a screengrab of a tweet by Joe Biden that features a Birdwatch note for additional context (here).
Other examples can be seen (here), (here).
Birdwatch is a community-based Twitter program that allows users to add notes on tweets they find misleading. The program began on Jan. 25, 2021 and was expanded to be visible to all Twitter users in the U.S. on Oct. 6, 2022 as documented by company press releases (here), (here).
A video explaining the program can be seen (here).
Elon Musk completed the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Oct. 28, 2022 (here), a few weeks after the Birdwatch program was expanded and 21 months after it began.
Birdwatch notes could be added to tweets, such as those from Biden and the White House, prior to Musk’s acquisition. One example can be seen (here).
VERDICT
False. Elon Musk did not implement the Birdwatch program, which has placed notes adding additional context on U.S. President Joe Biden’s tweets. The program was created in January 2021.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.