Social media giant Twitter will soon begin labeling Chinese virus-related tweets that contain information the company judges to be ‘misinformation’ in an attempt to crack down on messaging not approved by the W.H.O. and other “authoritative sources.” Twitter will apply the labels to the tweets of world leaders, including President Donald Trump.
Axios reports that social media giant Twitter stated in a blog post on Monday that it will soon begin labeling coronavirus-related tweets that feature possibly misleading information but don’t clearly violate the sites existing misinformation policies. The company will apply the labels to the tweets of world leaders, including President Trump.
Twitter’s director of public policy strategy, Nick Pickles, stated in a blog post:
In March, we broadened our policy guidance to address content that goes directly against guidance on COVID-19 from authoritative sources of global and local public health information. Moving forward, we may use these labels and warning messages to provide additional explanations or clarifications in situations where the risks of harm associated with a Tweet are less severe but where people may still be confused or misled by the content. This will make it easier to find facts and make informed decisions about what people see on Twitter.
Pickles added in the post: “These warnings will inform people that the information in the Tweet conflicts with public health experts’ guidance before they view it.”
When asked if these policies would apply to President Trump or other world leaders, Twitter’s head of site integrity, Yoel Roth replied: “These labels will apply to anyone sharing misleading information that meets the requirements of our policy, including world leaders.”
These labels will apply to anyone sharing misleading information that meets the requirements of our policy, including world leaders.
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) May 11, 2020
Twitter will be taking down Wuhan coronavirus tweets that pose a threat to the safety of a person or group along with any attempts to incite widespread civil unrest. The company stated that it has been removing posts that claim that social distancing or face masks do not curb the spread of the virus for weeks.
However, former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson has taken issue with the effectiveness of masks in a tweet thread which can be seen below:
1/ Incredible. Twitter said at the end of this @AP article it has removed claims that “face masks do not curb the virus’ spread for several weeks.” Guess I’m about to get in trouble then… pic.twitter.com/nX9IB3swyb
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) May 12, 2020
2/ Because here is an article PUBLISHED IN A @CDCgov journal (it’s dated May 2020 but was released Feb. 6) that reviews trials of masks (and handwashing) against influenza AND FINDS THEM USELESS. (More screenshots below.) https://t.co/JhgMsCv2e4 pic.twitter.com/K9kNdoT8Bf
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) May 12, 2020
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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