Elon Musk ends Twitter's Covid misinformation policy in latest radical switch up
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Twitter has announced that it has stopped enforcing its policy in relation to misinformation about coronavirus. According to the social media giant's website, it stopped taking any action against tweets violating covid rules on Wednesday November 23.
As recently as September, the social media portal had reported that it had suspended more than 11,000 accounts for Covid misinformation.
However, last month Twitter was bought by South African born billionaire Elon Musk for $44billion.
Mr Musk has vowed to make the social media site a hub for free speech, but Twitter's other policies on false information remain on the app with no similar notice saying that they will no longer be enforced.
BREAKING: Twitter has stopped enforcing its COVID-19 Misinformation Policy as of November 23rd.
— Dr. Simone Gold (@drsimonegold) November 29, 2022
This policy was used to silence people across the world who questioned the media narrative surrounding the virus and treatment options.
A win for free speech and medical freedom! pic.twitter.com/Mj56R3rSsG
Under its Covid policy, Twitter operated a "five-strike system" for accounts that posted content that was "demonstrably false or misleading".
According to the website, such content could "lead to significant risk of harm" such as exposure to Covid or damage to public health systems.
If misinformation was posted once then no action would be taken.
However, repeat offenders could face suspension for hours, days or even permanently if they received five strikes.
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Twitter has quietly changed their policies to allow COVID-19 misinformation. This change will literally kill people.https://t.co/qtNS6Xeq7A pic.twitter.com/8AEXiAPS9V
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) November 29, 2022
3) Twitter's data shows 11,000 accounts were suspended under the #COVID misinformation policy— with almost 100,000 pieces of content were removed since 2020.
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 29, 2022
Guess these accounts coming back soon. Time to roll up the sleeves to fight. Don’t back down.https://t.co/Q7NYHmsxMA pic.twitter.com/T3RrJz0RIr
Dr Stephen Griffin of The University of Leeds School of Medicine said the reporting system on Twitter had its flaws but it was reassuring that thousands of accounts spreading misinformation about the virus had been removed since 2020.
There have been mixed reactions to Twitter's move.
Physician Dr Simone Gold welcomed the move.
She said: "This policy was used to silence people across the world who questioned the media narrative surrounding the virus and treatment options.
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Twitter is no longer policing COVID misinformation: Good!
— Vinay Prasad MD MPH (@VPrasadMDMPH) November 30, 2022
Science should be debated; not censoredhttps://t.co/GjddzoU21T pic.twitter.com/T32hZGDF1H
"A win for free speech and medical freedom!"
In contrast, epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding said it was a retrogressive step but urged people to stay on the site to fight misinformation.
He said: "Bad news. Stay folks – do NOT cede the town square to them!"
In 2020, Mr Musk described the "coronavirus panic" as "dumb" as well as describing lockdowns as "fascist" and "forcible imprisoning."