Twitter vows to censor 'misleading' tweets about COVID vaccines

Twitter has announced a crackdown on anyone posting "misleading" information about COVID-19 vaccinations.

From next week, the social media platform will prioritise removing the "most harmful of misleading information".

And in the coming weeks it will also start to label all tweets thought to be providing bogus information about the vital shots.

The company said it was totally focused on ridding its platform of false and ambiguous statements surrounding the vaccine since it believed fake information presented the "biggest potential harm to people's health and wellbeing".

A statement said: "In the context of a global pandemic, vaccine misinformation presents a significant and growing public health challenge - and we all have a role to play.

"We are focused on mitigating misleading information that presents the biggest potential harm to people's health and wellbeing.

"Twitter has an important role to play as a place for good faith public debate and discussion around these critical public health matters."

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Last month the social media giant began

moderating tweets from US president Donald Trump

in which he claimed there had been fraud in the American election process.

Image:Twitter has censored the US President's claims about election fraud

At the time Twitter said it was "vital" the company gave additional context about why labelled tweets were misleading, whether those tweets were about the US election or

COVID-19

.

As a result of that crackdown, users are now unable to retweet a message that has received a label for including disputed messages, although they can quote tweet those messages, which requires them to provide additional context.

Under that policy, Twitter removes tweets containing inaccurate information about

• The nature of coronavirus, such as how it spreads within communities

• The efficacy and/or safety of preventative measures, treatments, or other precautions to mitigate or treat the disease

• Official regulations, restrictions, or exemptions pertaining to health advisories

• The prevalence or risk of infection or death

Image:Twitter will remove all tweets that flout its new policy

And from Monday 21 December, it will take its position even further by using a "combination of technology and human review" to root out tweets which "advance harmful false or misleading narratives" about not only the virus but the vaccines too, including:

• False claims that suggest immunizations and vaccines are used to intentionally cause harm to or control populations, including statements about vaccines that invoke a deliberate conspiracy

• False claims which have been widely debunked about the adverse impacts or effects of receiving vaccinations

• False claims that COVID-19 is not real or not serious, and therefore that vaccinations are unnecessary