Twitter drops its COVID-19 misinformation rules, what’s next?
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(Pocket-lint) – Twitter has quietly stopped enforcing its own COVID-19 misinformation policy, potentially opening the door to harmful tweets about the pandemic.
Twitter has not officially announced this change in position, but an updated policy document on its website confirmed that “effective November 23, 2022, Twitter no longer enforces the COVID-19 Disinformation Policy.”
This comment appears under another line of text that suggests Twitter is aware of the potentially destructive nature of misinformation. “As the global community faces the COVID-19 pandemic together, Twitter is helping people find trusted information, connect with others, and follow what’s happening in real time,” reads the post. the test.
Twitter and social media like it have been a source of dangerous misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic since its onset in late 2019. From claims about how and where the pandemic started to suggestions that vaccines are dangerous and drugs for horses could cure the virus, false information was legion. Policies like the one Twitter no longer follows have been enforced by multiple companies in an attempt to ensure that such misinformation cannot spread so easily.
The U-turn in Twitter’s misinformation policy comes as the company continues to reinstate banned accounts at the behest of owner and CEO Elon Musk and his Twitter followers. With no indication of which accounts have been reinstated, or why they were banned, it’s possible that the COVID-19 misinformation will return to a social network still reeling from Twitter Blue’s failure. of Musk and the launch of a paid verification.
With Twitter Blue due for another launch attempt, what’s next for the beleaguered social network? Musk’s new feud with Twitter could lead to the app being removed from the App Store, as he claims signups have never been higher.
Written by Oliver Haslam.
