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| Twitter is retiring its COVID-19 misinformation prevention policy |
Twitter said it will no longer enforce its COVID-19 misinformation policy as of November 23.
This means that the company will no longer prioritize removing or reporting misleading health information related to the virus that has swept the world and claimed millions of lives since early 2020.
Twitter said in December 2020 that it would begin flagging or removing misinformation related to COVID-19 vaccines after thousands of accounts posted false claims about the coronavirus and the harmful effects of vaccinations.
Since then, even before he took over Twitter, Elon Musk has been one of the harshest critics of public health officials' response to the coronavirus pandemic. He has said more than once that he refuses to isolate people in their homes and lock down the city because it violates people's basic rights.
Since closing the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Oct. 28, Musk has tried to stick to his advocacy for allowing free speech on Twitter, partly reflecting the change in policy in response to the COVID-19 virus that could explain. However, online security experts say his approach has led to an increase in hate speech, harassment and misinformation on the platform.
Earlier this month, several civil rights groups urged advertisers to suspend ads on Twitter after the company laid off thousands of workers, fearing it would affect the company's ability to remove hate speech and other controversial content.
Musk said hate speech has declined since October, without saying how the company measures the decline.
The policy changes related to COVID-19 come as the Platformer revealed that Twitter employees are scrambling to restore more than 62,000 suspended accounts. That number likely includes more than 11,000 accounts suspended for violating Twitter's COVID-19 misinformation rules.
On November 23, Musk released a survey asking users if Twitter gives an "amnesty" to suspended accounts provided they don't post deeply disturbing tweets or break any laws.
The poll found that 72.4% of people voted in favor of pardons, and Musk responded the next day by saying, "Pardons will start next week."