Twitter Says That It Will No Longer Enforce Covid Misinformation Policy

deadline.com:

Twitter no longer will enforce a policy to combat misinformation about the Covid pandemic. “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy,” a note on Twitter’s transparency pages read.

It’s the latest change under new owner Elon Musk, who has vowed to take a more relaxed view toward speech on the platform. He’s reinstated Donald Trump’s account, after Trump was suspended following the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

Twitter instituted new guidelines in early 2020, as the pandemic forced shutdowns throughout the world and as rumors and claims about Covid spread rapidly on social media.

They included “statements which are intended to influence others to violate recommended COVID-19 related guidance from global or local health authorities to decrease someone’s likelihood of exposure to COVID-19, such as: ‘social distancing is not effective,’ or ‘now that it’s summertime, you don’t need a mask anymore, so don’t wear your mask!'” The policies continued as misinformation spread about the Covid vaccines as they were first rolled out in 2021.