Twitter has reportedly abandoned its misinformation policy on Covid-19 in what public health experts have said could have “serious consequences if it discourages vaccination and other efforts to combat the still-spreading virus.”
An update on Twitter’s online rules read: “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.”
Twitter had previously “prohibited false claims about Covid-19 that the platform determined could lead to real-world harm.”
“Twitter’s decision to no longer remove false claims about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines disappointed many public health officials who said it could lead to more false claims about the virus, or the safety and effectiveness of vaccines,” Associated Press says.
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The platform suspended more than 11,000 accounts for violating the misinformation policy and removed 100,000 pieces of content.
Associated Press: “Despite its rules prohibiting Covid misinformation, Twitter has struggled with enforcement. Posts making bogus claims about home remedies or vaccines could still be found, and it was difficult on Tuesday to identify exactly how the platform’s rules may have changed.”
According to Dr Ashish Jha, the White House’s Covid-19 coordinator, “the problem of Covid misinformation is far larger than one platform, and that policies prohibiting Covid misinformation weren’t the best solution anyway.”
