Moderation only somewhat successful
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 5:14 am
Twitter's decision disappointed many public health officials, however, who said it could lead to more false claims about the virus, or the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.
"Bad news," tweeted epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding, who urged people not to flee Twitter but to stay and stand up for accurate information about the virus. "Stay folks — do NOT cede the town square to them!"
Twitter was one of several social platforms to try to control the online conversation in early 2020, after the emergence of a new and deadly virus led to hysteria and speculation, and as the scientific understanding of the illness evolved.
Twitter has struggled with enforcement of the policy, as other telegram database platforms have. Even when it was in place, posts making bogus claims about home remedies or vaccines could still be found, while factually accurate posts were suppressed if they were perceived as critical of vaccination or masking. It was difficult on Tuesday to identify exactly how the platform's rules may have changed.
Messages left with San Francisco-based Twitter seeking more information about its policy on COVID-19 misinformation were not immediately returned Tuesday.
The virus continues to spread, although fewer Americans are dying from COVID-19 today than at the start of the pandemic. Nationally, new COVID cases averaged nearly 38,800 a day as of Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The numbers are far lower than last winter, but are also a vast undercount because of reduced testing and reporting of the virus. About 28,100 people with COVID were hospitalized daily and about 313 died, according to the most recent federal daily averages.
"Bad news," tweeted epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding, who urged people not to flee Twitter but to stay and stand up for accurate information about the virus. "Stay folks — do NOT cede the town square to them!"
Twitter was one of several social platforms to try to control the online conversation in early 2020, after the emergence of a new and deadly virus led to hysteria and speculation, and as the scientific understanding of the illness evolved.
Twitter has struggled with enforcement of the policy, as other telegram database platforms have. Even when it was in place, posts making bogus claims about home remedies or vaccines could still be found, while factually accurate posts were suppressed if they were perceived as critical of vaccination or masking. It was difficult on Tuesday to identify exactly how the platform's rules may have changed.
Messages left with San Francisco-based Twitter seeking more information about its policy on COVID-19 misinformation were not immediately returned Tuesday.
The virus continues to spread, although fewer Americans are dying from COVID-19 today than at the start of the pandemic. Nationally, new COVID cases averaged nearly 38,800 a day as of Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The numbers are far lower than last winter, but are also a vast undercount because of reduced testing and reporting of the virus. About 28,100 people with COVID were hospitalized daily and about 313 died, according to the most recent federal daily averages.