Now, Twitter is banning misleading posts about coronavirus
What's the story
After Facebook and WhatsApp, Twitter has come into action to combat the spread of misinformation related to the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19. The company has expanded its safety policy to ban/remove tweets that can increase the risk of community spread of the infection, which has already killed nearly 9,000 people around the globe. Here's all you need to know about it.
Problem
COVID-19 'infodemic' plaguing online platforms
Ever since COVID-19 started spreading, a wave of misinformation and rumors related to the disease has plagued social media and messaging platforms. The false claims about the spread, prevention, and cure of the infection have misled people into following vague practices like applying bleach on their whole body, for instance. Many have also harmed themselves in this quest of dodging the deadly virus.
Action
Now, tweets carrying COVID-19 rumors will be banned
As these rumors have put the general public at risk, Twitter has announced the decision to ban and remove tweets spreading false information about the disease. This, according to the microblogging giant, applies to posts that can mislead people into behaving in a way that might increase the transmission and contraction rate of the virus, making the ongoing outbreak even worse.
Scope
This covers posts downplaying COVID-19 and encouraging false treatments
Twitter specified the scope of the restriction, noting that the ban covers posts downplaying the threat of the virus or denying the guidance of local and global health experts on it. In addition to that, tweets encouraging "fake or ineffective treatments, preventions, and diagnostic techniques" or providing misleading information by claiming that it comes directly from health experts and authorities will also be banned.
Twitter Post
Here's the official announcement by Twitter
Content that increases the chance that someone contracts or transmits the virus, including:
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) March 18, 2020
- Denial of expert guidance
- Encouragement to use fake or ineffective treatments, preventions, and diagnostic techniques
- Misleading content purporting to be from experts or authorities
Removal
Users will be asked to remove misleading posts
Twitter's automated content moderation systems will flag misleading tweets but they won't be removed automatically. Instead, the company says that it will "require people to remove tweets" - like it has been doing for other harmful content under the same Safety policy. The expanded rules are now in effect but it remains unclear how many misleading posts have been removed till now.
Information
Other platforms also working to combat misinformation
The action from Twitter comes as other platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Reddit, and Instagram, continue to work to remove misinformation on COVID-19. The disease has infected over 2 lakh people worldwide, including some 170 odd in India.