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Twitter says it won't enforce its COVID-19 misinformation policy

The social platform developed a set of rules for taking about the virus in 2020.
Twitter Whistleblower Congress
Posted at 8:40 PM, Nov 29, 2022
and last updated 2022-11-29 20:40:02-05

Social platform Twitter says it will now no longer enforce a long-standing COVID-19 misinformation policy created in 2020 to control speech regarding the virus on the platform.

In a message on Twitter's"Transparency" page, a disclaimer reads, "Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy."

Twitter previously suspended over 11,000 accounts between January 2020 and September 2022 citing infractions that went against its policy for controlling what the platform deemed "harmful misinformation."

Twitter has also removed nearly 100,000 pieces of various content that it found violated its policy, Twitter reported.

In a 2021 advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General's office, it outlined Twitter's policy as one that companies should model themselves after in controlling misinformation about COVID-19.

It is possible that some banned accounts could be restored as early as this week, based on previous comments made by Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk.