Twitter quietly drops COVID misinformation policy

Twitter has softly dropped its argumentation preventing the sharing of mendacious oregon misleading accusation astir COVID-19.

Under the policy, tweets containing misleading accusation astir the illness could beryllium fixed a statement including corrective accusation astir the claim.

Tweets that violated the argumentation and were severely harmful could beryllium deleted and the users temporarily locked retired of their accounts to forestall them from sharing further misinformation.

Twitter did not denote the alteration but added a enactment to a leafage connected its website outlining its COVID-19 policy.

"Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is nary longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading accusation policy," the enactment said.

The update appeared beneath a enactment that inactive reads: "As the planetary assemblage faces the COVID-19 pandemic together, Twitter is helping radical find reliable information, link with others, and travel what's happening successful existent time."

The societal media giant's COVID-19 misleading accusation argumentation nary longer appears connected the company's website, but it was imaginable to presumption it utilizing a cached mentation of the webpage.

It showed Twitter operated a onslaught strategy wherever those who had a statement added to their tweets were fixed 1 onslaught and those who had tweets deleted were fixed 2 strikes.

No enactment was taken for 1 strike, but users with 2 to 3 strikes would beryllium locked retired of their relationship for 12 hours, portion those with 4 strikes would beryllium locked retired for 7 days and repetition offenders with 5 oregon much strikes were permanently suspended.

The level suspended much than 11,000 accounts and removed astir 98,000 pieces of contented for violating its COVID misinformation argumentation betwixt January 2022 and September 2022, according to accusation published by Twitter.

The tract besides reduced the visibility of tweets oregon accounts believed to beryllium successful usurpation of the argumentation by stopping tweets oregon retweets from those accounts appearing successful definite parts of Twitter, displaying their replies successful little positions successful conversations and excluding their tweets oregon relationship from recommendations connected the site.

Content moderation squad laid off

The alteration successful argumentation comes aft Elon Musk laid disconnected fractional of Twitter's workforce aft taking implicit the company, with those liable for contented moderation, quality rights and communications among the teams that were hit.

Hundreds of employees are besides believed to person near the institution after Musk issued an ultimatum for his unit to motion up for "long hours astatine precocious intensity" oregon leave.

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Sky News attempted to interaction Twitter but nary interaction accusation was disposable connected its website and the authoritative Twitter communications relationship has been dormant since 30 October.

Musk announces 'amnesty' for suspended accounts

Last week Twitter reinstated the idiosyncratic relationship of far-right US person Marjorie Taylor Greene, which was banned successful January for violating its COVID misinformation policies.

Musk besides announced helium was granting "amnesty" for suspended accounts aft posting a canvass for users to ballot connected reinstating accounts that person not "broken the instrumentality oregon engaged successful egregious spam."

The effect of the poll, an unscientific survey which tin easy beryllium influenced by bots, was 72% for "yes".

"The radical person spoken. Amnesty begins adjacent week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei," Musk tweeted, utilizing a Latin operation meaning "the dependable of the people, the dependable of God."

Advertisers and users person already been leaving the tract implicit concerns astir verification and hatred speech.