Twitter Is Considered Not The Right Media For The Spread Of Information In An Emergency

Twitter is now considered not an edia for spreading the right information in an emergency. (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - Twitter is said to be not the right place to seek information in a state of emergency, Dutch politicians and a leading online group said on Wednesday, July 5. This follows an incident where residents are directed to the platform to obtain updates during major storms.

"We feel there is a problem with the government relying on Twitter sharing important information," an emailed statement Nico Drost's lawmaker's office told Reuters, referring to issues of accessibility, accountability, and reliability. While Twitter itself could not immediately be reached for comment.

The storm, which left at least one person dead and dozens of trees falling in North Holland province covering Amsterdam, was the strongest storm ever recorded in the Netherlands this summer.

The national emergency alert service sent a "twisted" notification to a phone warning people in North Holland to stay indoors facing strong winds at a speed of more than 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour), and followed a regional firefight's Twitter account for an update.

Some politicians and digital rights groups Bits of Freedom say the move is inappropriate, given that Twitter is a private company and the government has websites specifically aimed at communicating in crisis situations.

"Obviously it doesn't make sense to use Twitter," said Bits of Freedom spokesman Bergels, citing the issue of disinformation and the difficulty of being immediately contacted by people who don't have an account. He also noted that the company recently imposed restrictions on the number of tweets that could be seen by people who have not paid subscriptions.

"Maybe you're seeing a tweet with important information from the emergency handling side, but maybe there are 10 tweets prioritized by Twitter containing completely false information," he said.

Twitter accounts from the regional fire department were not verified. Their latest tweet directs users to a live blog hosted on the Amsterdam City website.

Twitter's communication account did not immediately respond to questions. An email sent to Twitter's press email address resulted in a dirty emoji reply automatically, according to an announcement made by Twitter boss Elon Musk earlier this year.