The overreach of Big Tech knows no bounds. Regular users, celebrities, and even government officials will have their tweets censored or their accounts banned if they go against Twitter’s own self-appointed regulation of what they consider to be public safety measures regarding the coronavirus, or COVID-19.
According to TechCrunch, Twitter will censor tweets or ban certain Twitter threads if they feel the information being shared puts the public at risk of transmitting the coronavirus.
Twitter began instituting the new policy back on March 18th, 2020, where they issued two tweets explaining what could net you a ban, a suspension, or a request to have your tweet(s) removed.
Content that increases the chance that someone contracts or transmits the virus, including:
– Denial of expert guidance
– Encouragement to use fake or ineffective treatments, preventions, and diagnostic techniques
– Misleading content purporting to be from experts or authorities— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) March 18, 2020
TechCrunch added some extra context to Twitter’s enforcement of these rules, explaining…
“[…] Under the ruleset, a tweet that claims ‘social distancing is not effective’ would be subject to removal. Twitter will also require users to delete tweets telling followers to do ineffective or dangerous things like drinking bleach, even if the tweet is ‘made in jest’ because that content can prove harmful when taken out of context.” […]
This now explains why Twitter removed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s tweets back in late March.
When he was interacting with citizens in the public and speaking face to face with people without maintaining social distancing, Twitter had two of his videos removed from his timeline.
YouTube also removed one of his videos too, claiming that it violated their policies.
So if you see some tweets that just disappear for no reason relating to the coronavirus, the above reason is probably why.
The fact that Twitter can impede on what national governments and incumbents can post publicly should make the average person fret that Big Tech now has more power than sovereign governments when it comes to spreading information throughout the public. Yet most people continue to shrug their shoulders and carry on about their day as if the dystopian societies featured in science fiction media becoming a current-day reality isn’t that big a deal.
(Thanks for the news tip Tim at Where)
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