Twitter stopped enforcing its longstanding COVID-19 “harmful misinformation” policy on November 23; more than 11,000 accounts were suspended under the rules
Ending enforcement unwinds that disease-specific rule set after more than 11,000 suspensions under it. The change also sits against Twitter's more recent crisis-misinformation framework, which used warnings and engagement limits for highly visible misleading posts.
First-order effects
Twitter will no longer suspend or otherwise enforce its COVID-19 harmful-misinformation rules, removing the policy basis used against more than 11,000 accounts.
Accounts posting claims previously covered by the COVID-19 policy face fewer Twitter-specific restrictions under that rule; Twitter's prior enforcement record no longer governs new cases.
Second-order effects
Public-health institutions and users reporting misleading COVID-19 posts lose a defined enforcement pathway that Twitter had progressively formalized through its 2020 rules.
The reversal weakens the practical reach of Twitter's earlier expanded definition of COVID-related harm, leaving labels, engagement limits, or other policies to carry any remaining response where applicable.
Third-order effects
If sustained, Twitter's move makes platform-safety governance less cumulative: specialized misinformation rules can be withdrawn after years of expansion and enforcement.
The case points to a broader shift from standing, topic-specific moderation commitments toward narrower or more discretionary platform rulebooks.
The trend: Platform content governance is moving from pandemic-era expansion of disease-specific misinformation rules toward retrenchment of those dedicated enforcement systems.
Twitter is no longer enforcing its Covid-19 misleading information policy. This addendum to the policy (highlighted in orange below) spotted overnight by some eagle-eyed Twitter users. Twitter says 11,000 accounts were suspended under the policy. https://blog.twitter.com/... http…
Victory! @elonmusk has KILLED the Twitter Covid policy. (Or maybe he wasn't wearing a mask around it and it died)... yep. Let's go! Try out YOUR WORST “misinformation” tweet below and see if it holds :) https://twitter.com/...
Twitter is no longer enforcing its Covid misinformation policy that was once hailed by the Surgeon General as an example of what companies should do to combat misinformation. From @donie https://www.cnn.com/...
Musk has been tweeting obsessively about free speech, but has said nothing about some of the specifics. Twitter dropped its Covid misinformation policy since Nov 23. No announcement. Is it a deliberate decision or do they no longer have the staff to do it? https://twitter.com/...
Most are reflexively for “free speech” which is why it is used by those pushing misinformation. But if you frame it in terms of specifics, like whether a social media company should let misinformation on a pandemic run wild, the response would be different https://www.cnn.com/...
The sharp eye of the soon-to-be-resurrected @ewoodhouse7 pointed out that the Covid policy seems to be GONE from Twitter's safety page. Check her substack! https://woodhouse.substack.com/ ... I just confirmed and saw this on the transparency page of Twitter: https://transparency.…
Overnight, @ZoeSchiffer and @CaseyNewton reported details of some of the accounts whose bans will be lifted. I'd imagine there is quite a bit of overlap between the 11,000 suspended Covid accounts and this. https://twitter.com/...
Interesting to note. The highest peak in Suspensions under Twitter's COVID-19 Misinformation Policy came in January 2022 where there were 2.2k Accounts Suspended. https://twitter.com/...
Twitter has released a full transparency report on its past actions to clamp down on COVID-19 “misinformation.” As of Nov 23, it will no longer enforce any suppression on the topic. 11,230 accounts were banned in total since Jan 2020 under the policy. https://transparency.twitter…
Twitter's own data shows 11,000 accounts were suspended under the policy and almost 100,000 pieces of content were removed since 2020. Possibility now of course that Musk will restore many of the suspended/banned accounts. https://transparency.twitter.com/ ...: https://twitter.co…