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Elon Musk puts an end to Twitter’s COVID misinformation policy

The new policy change is the most recent in a series of measures taken since Elon Musk took over as CEO.

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Image: KnowTechie

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Under Elon Musk, Twitter has announced that it will no longer enforce its longstanding COVID misinformation policy.

In 2020, Twitter introduced new policies prohibiting users from posting misinformation about the coronavirus and its vaccines. Soon later, it began suspending users who promoted harmful misinformation.

From January 2020 to September 2022, Twitter suspended more than 11,000 accounts for spreading COVID misinformation. The company also deleted over 100,000 pieces of content that violated its policies.

Twitter did not formally announce the change. Instead, users noticed a note added to Twitter’s Transparency page that outlines its new COVID policy.

twitter's covid-19 misinformation policy update 2022 on purple background
Image: KnowTechie

“Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy,” the page reads.

This isn’t the first time Musk expressed his disdain over COVID policies. In a 2020 Tesla earnings call, the CEO went off the rails and said COVID policies are “fascist.”

“I would call it, ‘forcibly imprisoning people in their homes’ against all their Constitutional rights, in my opinion, and breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why people came to America or built this country,” Musk said on the call. “It’s an outrage.”

Elon Musk is hellbent on making Twitter a haven of “free speech”

elon musk and twitter logo
Image: KnowTechie

The new policy change is the most recent in a series of measures taken since Elon Musk took over as owner.

Recently, Musk announced that he would introduce a “general amnesty” for suspended Twitter accounts that have not broken laws or engaged in egregious spamming.

Not to mention, Musk recently reinstated the Twitter accounts of prominent people like former President Trump and Kanye West. Naturally, this caused strife within Twitter.

Many Twitter employees have quit since Musk acquired the company, including members of the trust and safety team. To most, this was an indication that content moderation policies would likely change.

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Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.

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