Twitter adds way to report voter-tricking tweets
San Francisco: Twitter on Wednesday began making it easier to report tweets aimed at interfering with people voting, starting first in Europe and India.
An option to report Twitter messages as being misleading about voting was being added to the one-to-many messaging service's app in India and Europe, with a promise it would be expanded globally through the year.
"Any attempts to undermine the process of registering to vote or engaging in the electoral process is contrary to our company's core values," the Twitter safety team said in an online post.
"We are further expanding our enforcement capabilities in this area by creating a dedicated reporting feature within the product to allow users to more easily report this content to us."
Twitter teams entrusted to review reported content have been trained as part of an enhanced appeals process in the event tweet removal decisions are challenged, according to the San Francisco-based company.
"You may not use Twitter's services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections," the safety team said.
Examples of misleading information fired off in tweets included falsely asserting people could vote by email, phone, text messages or even using Twitter messages.
Tweets have also been used to trick people into going to the polls on the wrong days or times, missing opportunities to cast ballots.
Twitter and other online social media services have been under pressure to prevent their platforms from being used to spread falsehoods aimed at influencing voting, as appeared to be the case in the US presidential election in 2016.
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Liquor manufactures can sell liquor on tetra packs in Odisha: Minister
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Odisha Excise Minister Prithviraj Harichandan on Friday said the government has allowed the sale of liquor on tetra packets with certain criteria in its new Excise Policy for 2026-29.
Speaking to media persons here, Harichandan said selling liquor in tetra packs was there in the state's excise policy since 2014. However, it is not yet made available in the Odisha market, he said.
"If any licensed liquor manufacturer or vendor wants to produce or sell the liquor on tetra pack, they can do it. The government will not restrict them," he clarified.
The state government is giving priority for proper regulation of manufacturing and selling of liquor in the state, the minister added.
"We just ensure that there is no illegal sale of liquor in the state," he stated.
As per the new Excise Policy, which came into force from April 1, India-made foreign liquor (IMFL) manufacturers can supply their products in tetra packaging and in glass bottles in specified sizes. Only 180 ml can be supplied in tetra packs.
The tetra packs must have six protective layers and must have the shelf life or the date fit for consumption clearly mentioned on the packaging, the policy guidelines said.
Before using the tetra packs for packaging of liquor, the manufacturing units must take certification from the Central Food Technology Research Institute or Indian Institute of Packaging, or any such institute as notified by the excise commissioner, it said.
Earlier, opposition leaders had demanded the rollback of the government's decision to introduce the sale of liquor in tetra packs, calling the move "unethical" and "anti-youth".
