Twitter said on Wednesday that it would begin removing misinformation about coronavirus vaccines. The planned takedowns, which will begin next week, were announced as misinformation about the vaccines, which are just starting to be distributed in the United States, is increasing.
Tweets that claim the vaccines intentionally cause harm, or conspiracies about the dangers of vaccines, will be removed according to Twitter’s new policy. Facebook and YouTube have already said they would remove false claims about the vaccines.
“In the context of a global pandemic, vaccine misinformation presents a significant and growing public health challenge,” Twitter said in a blog post.
While Twitter already labels misinformation about the coronavirus, such as claims that masks, social distancing and other best health practices are not effective, the new policy specifically addresses vaccines.
Twitter said it would also try to draw a distinction between outright misinformation — which will be removed — and tweets that fall into a gray zone, like those expressing concern about vaccine side effects. Starting next year, the company will add labels to tweets that “advance unsubstantiated rumors, disputed claims, as well as incomplete or out-of-context information” about vaccines.
“We will prioritize the removal of the most harmful misleading information, and during the coming weeks, begin to label tweets that contain potentially misleading information about the vaccines,” the company said in the blog post.
