It’s still hot and humid here in Florida, which is more of a bug than a feature of our autumn weather here in Orlando. The leaves don’t really change down this way, but we’ve got our fingers crossed that the weather will relent sooner than later.

On the topic of things not being as they should be, let’s discuss something insidious on the internet: deepfakes. We’ve discussed deepfakes on PR/PR’s blog before, highlighting one of the recent features of social media that seems certain to make its presence felt at your Thanksgiving table this holiday season. In short: They’re fairly high-quality videos where someone (likely of the political ilk) is seen saying something they definitely didn’t say.

They’ve been seen as a major threat on social media as we head into the 2020 election season, and now Twitter is being proactive about combating the predictably coming wave of deepfake videos—and it wants its users’ help.

They have not explicitly developed a policy regarding deepfakes, but the company is seeking feedback from those on the platform on how to best battle fake videos moving forward.

It’s not a solution, but it’s certainly a move in the right direction.

CEOs of social media platforms have been scrutinized and dragged in front of Congress for the role they played as a conduit for misinformation leading up to the 2016 election. It’s an area where the major players have dedicated time, effort, and money to shoring up as the calendar moves from autumn to winter, and winter into spring—election season.

We’ll see if it works to limit the digital deception that plagued the internet nearly four years ago.

Social media is an extremely valuable tool. It’s also an extremely potent weapon. It’s extremely unlikely that Twitter will be able to lock down its platform to deepfakes or other online propaganda, but it’s a positive sign that they’re working with their users to limit it.