Twitter has frequently been criticized for acting slowly, if at all, to curb the spread of misinformation. But with an unprecedented pandemic sweeping the U.S., the social media platform is taking unprecedented steps to rein things in, particularly when it comes to world leaders and the top rung of right-wing crankery. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro had two of his tweets taken down on Sunday after he touted hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to prevent and treat malaria, as a miracle cure for COVID-19. One tweet featured a clip of Bolsonaro walking through Braslia while arguing that the drug, which is being tested on some COVID-19 patients but is still unproven, would allow the country to return to work, lest its stalled economy result in Brazil turning into Venezuela. Last week Venezuelas Nicols Maduro had a snake oil tweet of his own deleted after he claimed to have discovered a natural brew cure la Alex Jones.
To prepare for the wave of coronavirus news, Twitter published a blog post earlier this month announcing a zero-tolerance approach to platform manipulation and any other attempts to abuse our service at this critical juncture. In response to an inquiry from BuzzFeed News, which reported on the Bolsonaro deletions, a spokesman for Twitter said the site is making good on its word. Twitter recently announced the expansion of its rules to cover content that could be against public health information provided by official sources and could put people at greater risk of transmitting COVID-19, the spokesperson said.
The crackdown is notable given that Twitter often lets top dignitaries play by their own set of rules when it comes to disseminating lies. Last year the site issued a new term of service stating that if a world leader does violate the Twitter Rules but there is a clear public interest value to keeping the Tweet on the service, we may place it behind a notice that provides context about the violation and allows people to click through should they wish to see the content. That leeway has allowed people like Donald Trump to continue to spread misinformation unabated. HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine, he tweeted just over a week ago, presaging the claim that got Maduro and Bolsonaro in trouble. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH...be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST.
Some of the presidents lackeys are following his lead but facing the consequences hes avoided. Fox News host Laura Ingraham was forced to delete a March 20 tweet claiming that hydroxychloroquine had shown very promising results. One Patient was described as Lazarus who was seriously ill from Covid-19, already released. Rudy GiulianiTrumps cybersecurity adviser, among other thingstweeted a quote insisting that hydroxychloroquine had been shown to be 100% effective in helping coronavirus patients. Twitter temporarily locked him out of his account and deleted the claim on Saturday, but he is still touting the drug in tweets and telling followers to learn more about its efficacy by subscribing to his personal website.
Right-wing youth leader Charlie Kirk had tweets removed that made the original claims about hydroxychloroquine quoted by Giuliani. Conservative blog The Federalist faced similar repercussions; its Twitter account was temporarily locked down after promoting an article calling for Americans to throw coronavirus-themed chickenpox parties, i.e., herding large groups of people into confined spaces with COVID-19 patients so that everyone contracts it, allowing those who dont die or fall severely ill to return to their normal lives. Non-Trumpworld figures like progressive activist Alyssa Milano and fugitive libertarian icon John McAfee have also had misleading tweets related to coronavirus scrubbed by Twitter.
More here:
Conservative Voices Are Pumping Out Coronavirus Misinformation on Twitter - Vanity Fair
- John McAfee: Verge (XVG) is the Best Buy; XVG Price ... - February 6th, 2018 [February 6th, 2018]
- John McAfee Says DOGE Is His Coin of the Week - February 23rd, 2018 [February 23rd, 2018]
- John McAfee Admits Bitcoin Is A Total Scam - Your News Wire - March 13th, 2018 [March 13th, 2018]
- John McAfee Resurfaces With a Bang as Adviser to Crypto ... - March 16th, 2018 [March 16th, 2018]
- John McAfee: 'CIA Compromised Every Router In America' - April 1st, 2018 [April 1st, 2018]
- John McAfee announces bid for 2020 US presidential election - June 5th, 2018 [June 5th, 2018]
- Is John McAfee Pumping Cryptocurrencies for Cash ... - June 14th, 2018 [June 14th, 2018]
- John McAfees Latest Prediction: Major Crypto Price Surge ... - July 3rd, 2018 [July 3rd, 2018]
- John McAfee Says There is a War on Cryptocurrencies ... - July 13th, 2018 [July 13th, 2018]
- John McAfee Fled to Belize, But He Couldnt Escape Himself - July 26th, 2018 [July 26th, 2018]
- John McAfee Says He's No Longer Pitching ICOs "Due To SEC ... - July 26th, 2018 [July 26th, 2018]
- The New Fight | John McAfee - July 26th, 2018 [July 26th, 2018]
- John McAfee Fled to Belize, But He Couldnt ... - WIRED - July 27th, 2018 [July 27th, 2018]
- Teen hacks John McAfee's 'unhackable' crypto-baby to play ... - August 11th, 2018 [August 11th, 2018]
- John McAfee Boldly Predicts Bitcoin Will Surpass $15,000 Next ... - August 20th, 2018 [August 20th, 2018]
- John McAfee: I keep a gun in my hand while showering, sitting ... - August 26th, 2018 [August 26th, 2018]
- John McAfee: I keep a gun in my hand while showering ... - August 29th, 2018 [August 29th, 2018]
- Seth Rogen & Michael Keaton Join John McAfee Film King Of ... - October 30th, 2018 [October 30th, 2018]
- Seth Rogen, Michael Keaton Starring in John McAfee Movie ... - October 30th, 2018 [October 30th, 2018]
- John McAfee, Ripple (XRP) and the SEC - Global Coin Report - December 19th, 2018 [December 19th, 2018]
- Security Solutions: Endpoint, Cloud, Network ... - mcafee.com - December 23rd, 2018 [December 23rd, 2018]
- John McAfee undeterred by crashing market, says Bitcoin will ... - December 27th, 2018 [December 27th, 2018]
- John McAfee on Bitcoin: You Cant Stop It, Reiterates $1 ... - December 27th, 2018 [December 27th, 2018]
- JOHN MCAFEE: I'll decrypt the San Bernardino phone free of ... - December 28th, 2018 [December 28th, 2018]
- Blockchain wins the John McAfee Award for Destroying Time and ... - January 2nd, 2019 [January 2nd, 2019]
- Dr. John McAfee, MD - Book an Appointment - Carson City, NV - January 2nd, 2019 [January 2nd, 2019]
- John McAfee's Warning About That Presidential Alert - The ... - January 2nd, 2019 [January 2nd, 2019]
- John McAfee: "The Bull Market IS coming" - Ethereum World News - January 22nd, 2019 [January 22nd, 2019]
- John McAfee Biography - Thefamouspeople.com - January 22nd, 2019 [January 22nd, 2019]
- 'The Bitcoin (BTC) Bull Market IS Coming,' Reassures John ... - February 4th, 2019 [February 4th, 2019]
- JOHN MCAFEE: Join the crusade to save our country ... - March 7th, 2019 [March 7th, 2019]
- John McAfee: How No One Got Laid Through Ashley Madison ... - March 7th, 2019 [March 7th, 2019]
- McAfee Stands By $1 Million Bitcoin Price Prediction By 2020 - April 14th, 2019 [April 14th, 2019]
- Will McAfee Disclose Nakamoto's Identity? Crypto Will Suffer ... - April 20th, 2019 [April 20th, 2019]
- John McAfee 'knows true identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi ... - April 20th, 2019 [April 20th, 2019]
- John McAfee - IMDb - April 20th, 2019 [April 20th, 2019]
- John McAfee Triggers Countdown to Unmask Bitcoin Creator ... - April 20th, 2019 [April 20th, 2019]
- John McAfee Dares Bitcoin SV Creator Craig Wright to ... - May 5th, 2019 [May 5th, 2019]
- Bitcoin Below $1M by 2020 is Impossible, It's Pure ... - May 13th, 2019 [May 13th, 2019]
- Bitcoin Price Will Reach $1 Million in 2020, Or Youre an ... - May 13th, 2019 [May 13th, 2019]
- Bored? John McAfees New App Will Harass & Reward You in BTC - May 13th, 2019 [May 13th, 2019]
- John McAfee asks his Twitter followers to stop sending him ... - May 13th, 2019 [May 13th, 2019]
- John McAfee slams US authorities as government closes in - May 13th, 2019 [May 13th, 2019]
- Overstock Shares Crash as Former CEO Cashes Out Goes All In on Crypto and Gold - CCN.com - September 25th, 2019 [September 25th, 2019]
- Tezos Pumps On Binance Listing, But What About US Crypto Exchange? - newsBTC - September 25th, 2019 [September 25th, 2019]
- Charles Hoskinson Interview From Ethereum To Cardano And IOHK - Nasdaq - September 25th, 2019 [September 25th, 2019]
- Bakkt to Launch Bitcoin Futures in Three Days, John McAfee: It ould Jump-Start Crypto Adoption - U.Today - September 25th, 2019 [September 25th, 2019]
- John McAfee Speaks On the Beatzcoin IEO Hosting On Probit Exchange - Coinpedia - September 25th, 2019 [September 25th, 2019]
- John McAfee: Bitcoin Custody to Become the Standard - CryptoPotato - September 25th, 2019 [September 25th, 2019]
- Federal Reserve Ramping Up Repo Operations In Early 2020 Will Prove A Strong Case For Bitcoin - ZyCrypto - December 16th, 2019 [December 16th, 2019]
- Verge Crashes Over 15% Ahead of Scheduled Hard Fork - Bitcoinist - December 16th, 2019 [December 16th, 2019]
- Mike Novogratz Starts 2020 with a Simpler Prediction for Bitcoin - Live Bitcoin News - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- Trevon James Promised (And Claims He Did) Eating His Dogs Poop If Bitcoin Isnt At $10 By 2020 - CryptoPotato - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- 7 Big Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Predictions for 2020 - The Daily Hodl - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- The Dickening of John McAfee is Less Than 1 year Away - The Merkle Hash - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- Crypto Baron John McAfee Claims He Put Up Show Together with CIA and Zombie Coin - U.Today - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- Let's look at what McAfee had to say about Bitcoin in 2019 - CryptoNewsZ - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- John McAfee: Bitcoin Is Ancient Technology, As Ford Model T For Cars - CryptoPotato - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- $1mn by 2020: John McAfee will still eat his own d*ck if ... - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- I want the stage: McAfee will run for president in ... - January 5th, 2020 [January 5th, 2020]
- Bring it on! Hack This Bitcoin Wallet And Win $250,000, GK8 Dares Hackers - Coinfomania - February 1st, 2020 [February 1st, 2020]
- Binance CEO Strikes Back At FUD Over Reports That Exchange Is Not Authorized To Operate In Malta - ZyCrypto - February 24th, 2020 [February 24th, 2020]
- XRP Price Expected to Hit $1 Minimum as We Approach 2021 - U.Today - February 24th, 2020 [February 24th, 2020]
- John McAfee Praises Privacy Crypto, Reveals the Secret of Technical Progress - U.Today - February 24th, 2020 [February 24th, 2020]
- Johnny Depp: Upcoming Movies He Will Be Seen In - The Digital Weekly - February 24th, 2020 [February 24th, 2020]
- The rise, and fall, and rise of John McAfee, from tech ... - February 29th, 2020 [February 29th, 2020]
- John McAfee 2020 presidential campaign - Wikipedia - February 29th, 2020 [February 29th, 2020]
- 7 Things You Probably Didn't Know About John McAfee - February 29th, 2020 [February 29th, 2020]
- IRS fugitive John McAfee sent to UK after stint in ... - February 29th, 2020 [February 29th, 2020]
- Satoshi Nakaboto: Steven Seagal to pay $330K settlement for promoting a Bitcoin scam - The Next Web - March 4th, 2020 [March 4th, 2020]
- Satoshi Nakaboto: Bitcoin drives 50% of Cash Apps revenue - The Next Web - March 4th, 2020 [March 4th, 2020]
- Tim Draper's Proposal To Replace the US Dollar With Bitcoin (BTC) - UseTheBitcoin - March 4th, 2020 [March 4th, 2020]
- Alamance County makes its choices at the polls - Burlington Times News - March 4th, 2020 [March 4th, 2020]
- Elon Musk Just Sent The Best Cryptocurrency And Prank Bitcoin Rival Sharply HigherHeres Why - Forbes - March 4th, 2020 [March 4th, 2020]
- Social media companies are taking steps to tamp down coronavirus misinformation but they can do more - Middletown Press - March 31st, 2020 [March 31st, 2020]
- Over $7 Billion In Investments Expected to Enter the Cryptocurrency Market - Coin Idol - April 2nd, 2020 [April 2nd, 2020]
- Social media companies are taking steps to tamp down coronavirus misinformation but they can do more - Alton Telegraph - April 2nd, 2020 [April 2nd, 2020]
- Social media platforms caught up in information overload amid coronavirus pandemic - The Sociable - April 2nd, 2020 [April 2nd, 2020]
- McAfee Finally On The Right Path - Forbes - April 2nd, 2020 [April 2nd, 2020]
- John McAfee Predicts Hyperinflation, Names Coins That Will Act as Safe Haven During COVID-19 Crisis - U.Today - April 2nd, 2020 [April 2nd, 2020]