Twitter quietly scraps COVID-19 misinformation prevention policy

Twitter on Tuesday scrapped the COVID-19 misleading information policy that prohibited users from spreading misinformation or inauthentic information about the pandemic, vaccines, or the disease. During the years that the pandemic peaked, as many as 11,000 Twitter users were banned under the platform’s previous policy. Twitter took down almost 100,000 posts involving content that contained some form of COVID-19-related misinformation. But in a new change, Twitter has now dropped the COVID-19 disinformation policy once again giving the freedom to its users to post any unverified information related to the pandemic.

"Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy," the new note added on Twitter read. The line below read, "As the global community faces the COVID-19 pandemic together, Twitter is helping people find reliable information, connect with others, and follow what's happening in real time."

Twitter suspended 11,000 accounts for COVID-19 disinformation

Twitter's CEO, Elon Musk under a new moderation policy has also restored some of the previously banned accounts such as Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene whose account was suspended over COVID-19 disinformation. Taylor Greene wrote on her official Twitter handle that her right to freedom of speech was curtailed by the platform and that she was glad her account was restored under the new CEO: ‘On January 2, 2022, they violated my freedom of speech and ability to campaign & fundraise crying “covid misinformation.’ My account is back. Go follow @mtgreenee for MTG unfiltered," Taylor Greene tweeted.

Twitter suspended more than 11,000 accounts and took down nearly 98,000 tweets related to covid-19 that it said had violated COVID-19  misinformation policy between January 2022 and September 2022, according to the information published by the platform. But the new change was introduced under Musk's content moderation review strategy. 

Elon Musk launched a poll asking people to vote about granting general amnesty to people who were banned on Twitter. These accounts, he said, had not "broken the law or engaged in egregious spam." The result of Musk's poll was 72% for "yes". "The people have spoken. Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei," Musk tweeted, using a Latin phrase meaning "the voice of the people, the voice of God," Musk tweeted.