Twitter recently updated its COVID-19 policies, requiring users to not make and/ or remove tweets that may incite dangerous actions or cause social unrest.
The implemented changes are because of certain incidents that have happened due to these misinformed tweets.
For example, people in Britain have set 5G towers on fire because of false claims that they’re connected to the spread of COVID-19.
Twitter even used that example in a tweet, sharing its updated guidelines:
We have broadened our guidance on unverified claims that incite people to engage in harmful activity, could lead to the destruction or damage of critical 5G infrastructure, or could lead to widespread panic, social unrest, or large-scale disorder.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) April 22, 2020
Twitter used an example of “The National Guard just announced that no more shipments of food will be arriving for two months — run to the grocery store ASAP and buy everything” as the kind of tweet that would incite action or cause social unrest.
While the company does intend to curb as many tweets falsely linked to COVID-19, it won’t exactly be removing all tweets that have incomplete or unverified claims.
Hence why Twitter updated its policy. It’s hoping to educate the community to just not tweet out such things, and/ or remove any they have already made.
To date, Twitter has successfully removed 2,230 tweets that have “misleading and potentially harmful content” when it updated its policies regarding COVID-19 on March 18:
Since introducing our updated policies on March 18, we’ve removed over 2,230 Tweets containing misleading and potentially harmful content. Our automated systems have challenged more than 3.4 million accounts targeting manipulative discussions around COVID-19.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) April 22, 2020
Those policies introduced then required users to remove content stating how someone may have an increased chance of contracting or transmitting the COVID-19.
Twitter is simply doing its part in order to battle misinformation. Along with Twitter, other companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Reddit, and YouTube made a joint statement to fight fake news.
