Twitter has ended its COVID-19 misinformation policy.
The social media platform - which was bought by Elon Musk when his $44 billion takeover went through last month - has stopped taking action against tweets which breach its rules on misleading information about coronavirus.
In an update from November 23 - which was spotted this week by CNN - the company's initial report reads: "As the global community faces the COVID-19 pandemic together, Twitter is helping people find reliable information, connect with others, and follow what’s happening in real time."
However, a note under the policy has clarified: "Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy."
Other policies on misinformation are still on Twitter's website without a similar notice claiming they won't be enforced anymore.
Twitter has used a five strike system under the specific COVID policy when it came to accounts sharing "demonstrably false or misleading" content which could "lead to significant risk of harm".
While tweeting such content once didn't result in a punishment, repeat offenders could find themselves suspended for hours, days, or even indefinitely.
Meanwhile, SpaceX founder Musk has claimed this week that Apple has cut most of its advertising on Twitter and apparently threatened to remove the Twitter app from the App Store.
The argument comes after other firms have stepped back from the site following Elon’s content moderation plans, and the Tesla founder blamed the “massive” dip in ad revenue on people pressuring advertisers to step away from the site that has allowed controversial figures like the former US President Donald Trump, Andrew Tate and rapper Kanye West back on following their removal for inciting violence.
On Monday (28.11.2022), Elon said: "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?
"What's going on here @tim_cook?
“Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.”
