Twitter Inc. has reversed a policy that was intended to address COVID-19 misinformation on the social media platform, raising the possibility of an increase in false claims even as cases rise in China and other countries.
The decision was made in light of worries about Twitter's capacity to combat misinformation following the termination of almost half of its employees, including those in charge of content moderation, under new CEO Elon Musk.
An update on Twitter's blog page reads, "Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 false information policy."
In response to a request for clarification, Twitter took some time to respond, and it was not immediately obvious which policies the company would be scrapping.
At the start of COVID in 2020, Twitter put in place a number of protections, including as labels and warning messages on tweets with disputed information about the health issue and a structure to require users to remove tweets that promoted harmfully false statements about vaccines.
owned by Meta Platforms Inc., META Similar safeguards were used by YouTube platforms run by Alphabet Inc. and Facebook.
owned by Meta Platforms Inc., META Similar safeguards were used by YouTube platforms run by Alphabet Inc. and Facebook.
In July, Meta asked its independent oversight board for advice on whether it should modify its existing strategy in light of the growth of reliable information sources and public knowledge of COVID.
Twitter claimed at the beginning of this year that as of March 2021, it has stopped implementing a "civic integrity standard" pertaining to false information on the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Following his $44 billion purchase of Twitter on October 27, the billionaire Musk immediately began making a number of changes to the company's operations and workforce. A content control council with "widely varied perspectives" will be constituted, according to Musk's announcement from October 29.