The social media company said in a blog post that users
could be required to remove tweets with false claims that suggest vaccines are
"used to intentionally cause harm to or control populations, including
statements about vaccines that invoke a deliberate conspiracy."
The policy, announced the same week that the first Americans
received COVID-19 vaccinations as part of a mass immunization campaign, will
also apply to false claims that the pandemic is not real or serious and
vaccinations are unnecessary. Twitter said it will also apply to widely
debunked false claims about the adverse effects of receiving COVID-19 vaccines.
Conspiracy theories and misinformation about the coronavirus
and its potential vaccines have proliferated on social media platforms during
the pandemic.
Twitter said that early next year it would start to label or
place a warning on tweets with "unsubstantiated rumors, disputed claims,
as well as incomplete or out-of-context information" about the vaccines.
A Twitter spokeswoman said the company would determine with
public health partners which vaccine misinformation was harmful enough to
warrant removal.
Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc-owned YouTube have both in
recent weeks announced bans on false claims about the vaccine that go against
information from public health experts.
Twitter previously required users to remove tweets with
false or misleading information about the nature of the coronavirus, the
efficacy or safety of preventative measures or treatments, official regulations
or the risk of infection or death. The company says it hides such tweets and
blocks users from tweeting again until they remove them.
Twitter said it would enforce the updated policy from Dec.
21 and would expand these actions in the following weeks. - Reuters