Twitter stops enforcing Covid misinformation policy under Elon Musk

Twitter stopped enforcing the Covid-19 misleading information policy on November 23. The company first worked on the Covid misinformation policy in the year 2020. The policy was set up to stop the rampant spread of misinformation about the Covid-19 virus. However, the company has announced that the policy is no longer being enforced on users. The Covid misinformation policy was last updated in January 2021. The decision was taken weeks after Elon Musk took over the social media company. 

In a blog post, the company said, “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.” The development was first reported by CNN. 

The global cases of Covid-19 have been on a dip. However, China reported its highest-ever cases last week. The misinformation policy was stopped being enforced at the same time Twitter was witnessing an exodus of employees, which could be one of the factors behind the decision to stop enforcing it. 

Also read: Elon Musk may 'Go to War' with Apple as iPhone-maker threatens to 'withhold Twitter'

Elon Musk reduced Twitter’s workforce by more than half since he took over the micro-blogging platform. In the first wave of layoffs, he axed the jobs of over 50 per cent of employees, without any prior notice. Later he also removed around 80 per cent of the contractual workers, most of whom were believed to be engaged in content moderation. Musk then went on to issue an ultimatum for the remainder of the employees. He asked them to either stay back and give long and intense hours to Twitter or take the severance pay and leave. A lot of the employees opted for the second option, further shrinking the company’s workforce. 

Also read: 'Battle for the future of civilization': Elon Musk warns Twitter users of tyranny that lies ahead

Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety also said in an interview that Twitter is not safer under Elon Musk. He claimed that Twitter doesn’t have the staff to keep it safe. Roth worked with Musk in the first week after the takeover. He even released a post claiming that Twitter was somehow safer after Musk took over. So far, Roth hasn't been replaced, which is also spooking advertisers away from the platform. Big companies like Apple, Volkswagen and even clients of the biggest advertising agencies are staying away from the platform.