Twitter rolls back COVID misinformation policy

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Twitter Inc has rolled back a policy that aimed to tackle COVID-19-related misinformation on the social media platform, lending itself to the risk of a potential increase in misrepresentations even as cases rise in China and some parts of the world.

The move also comes amid concerns over Twitter’s ability to tackle misinformation after laying off around half of its staff, including those involved in content moderation, under new boss Elon Musk.

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« As of November 23, 2022, Twitter no longer enforces the COVID-19 Misleading Information Policy, » according to an update on its blog page. The update was first reported by CNN on Tuesday.

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It was not immediately clear what specific measures Twitter will remove, and the company did not immediately respond to a request to share more information.

At the onset of COVID in 2020, Twitter implemented a number of measures, including warning labels and messages on tweets containing disputed information about the health crisis and a framework allowing users to delete tweets that advanced. false harmful claims related to vaccines.

Facebook, owned by Meta Platforms Inc, and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube services have used similar measures, which are currently in place.

Earlier this year, Twitter said that since March 2021 it had stopped enforcing a « civic integrity policy » linked to lies about the 2020 US presidential election.

Billionaire Musk took over Twitter on October 27, paying $44 billion for the company, and moved quickly to initiate a number of product and personnel changes. Musk said Oct. 29 that he would set up a content moderation board with « very diverse views. » (Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)