Twitter no longer enforces COVID-19 misinformation policy after Musk acquisition – National

If Twitter no longer enforces policies against COVID-19 misinformation and discourages vaccinations and efforts to combat the still-spreading virus among public health professionals, this change will be effective. It has raised concerns that it could have serious consequences.

Savvy users spotted the change on Monday night, noting the following one-sentence update to Twitter’s online rules:

By Tuesday, some Twitter accounts were testing the new perimeter, praising the platform’s no-interference approach after Twitter was acquired by Elon Musk.

“This policy was used to silence people around the world who questioned media narratives surrounding the virus and treatment options,” said a doctor and leading provider of COVID-19 misinformation. , Dr. Simone Gold, tweeted. “Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Medicine Win!”

Twitter’s decision not to remove false claims about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine disappointed many public health officials, but it could lead to more false claims about the safety and efficacy of the virus and vaccine. I said yes.

“Bad news,” epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Din tweeted, urging people to stand up and stand up for accurate information about the virus instead of fleeing Twitter. Do not give them the square of

Meanwhile, the virus continues to spread. In the United States, as of Monday, the number of new her COVID cases was averaging nearly 38,800 per day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. This is a much lower number than last winter, but is a significant underestimate due to reduced testing and reporting. About 28,100 people were hospitalized and about 313 died each day from COVID, according to his latest federal daily average.

Cases and deaths are up from two weeks ago. But her fifth of the U.S. population hasn’t been vaccinated, most Americans haven’t gotten the latest boosters, and many have stopped wearing masks.

In Canada, more than 35 people have died per day in the past week as a direct result of COVID-19, according to provincial public health data. Vaccine coverage is over 80% for him, but only 7% of the population has had a booster since August.

Musk, who spread COVID misinformation on Twitter, has expressed interest in rolling back many of the platform’s previous rules meant to combat misinformation.

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Mr. Musk said last week that he would grant a “pardon” to account holders banned from Twitter. He also reinstated the accounts of several people who spread COVID misinformation, including that of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose personal account was suspended this year for repeatedly violating Twitter’s COVID rules.

Some of Green’s recent tweets question the effectiveness of masks and make unsubstantiated claims about the safety of COVID vaccines.

Since the pandemic began, platforms like Twitter and Facebook have struggled to keep up with a torrent of misinformation about the virus, its origins, and its response to it.

Under a policy enacted in January 2020, Twitter banned false claims about COVID-19 that the platform determined could cause real-world harm. According to Twitter’s latest statistics, more than 11,000 accounts have been suspended for violating its rules and nearly 100,000 pieces of content have been removed from the platform.

Despite the message announcing the end of the policy, the page highlighting the data said Twitter “helps people find reliable information, connect with others, and track what’s happening in real time.” It is still listed as Also, as COVID-19 vaccines and treatments become more common, the company said it “continues to remove or annotate harmful and potentially misleading information so that users can quickly find reliable information.” We promise to prioritize.

Despite rules banning COVID misinformation, Twitter is struggling to enforce them. It was difficult on Tuesday to pinpoint which of the

A message left on San Francisco-based Twitter asking for more information about its COVID-19 misinformation policy was not immediately returned on Tuesday.

A search for common terms related to COVID misinformation found a lot of misleading content, but it also automatically links to helpful resources about the virus and authoritative sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Found in

Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 coordinator, said Tuesday that the COVID-19 misinformation problem is much bigger than one platform and a policy to ban COVID misinformation is not the best solution anyway. I said no.

Speaking at the Knight Foundation Forum on Tuesday, Jah said misinformation about the virus has spread for many reasons, including legitimate uncertainty about the deadly disease. Banning alone does not help people find good information or feel confident in what they are hearing from their health care providers.

“I think we all have a shared responsibility,” Jah said of fighting misinformation about COVID. , literally tens of thousands of people dying needlessly.”

— with additional files from Global News

© 2022 The Canadian Press