Community Notes for Preventing the Spread of Misinformation After the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in Japan

The spread of misinformation on social media poses a significant challenge during crises, where timely and accurate information is crucial for public safety. Community Notes, a feature of X (formerly Twitter), aims to mitigate misinformation by adding supplementary information to posts. Notes become visible only after receiving sufficient ratings from other users. This study examines the creation and evaluation process of Community Notes after the Noto Peninsula earthquake on January 1, 2024. Among the 1,722 notes created, only 11 percent were rated as ''Helpful'' and displayed, while the majority, 88 percent, remained unevaluated due to insufficient user ratings. Notably, helpful notes were displayed promptly, with a median evaluation time of six hours, highlighting their potential for rapid response. A content analysis identified two predominant topics: political and conspiracy theories, with conspiracy-related notes slightly more likely to be rated as helpful. These findings demonstrate that Community Notes can effectively combat misinformation during large-scale disasters but also highlight the need to enhance user participation and improve the evaluation process to maximize their impact.