By Tony O’Riley-
Twitter has removed more than 1,100 misleading and potentially harmful tweets since March 18 when the company rolled out new guidance that barred content that could increase the spread of the novel coronavirus, the social network said Wednesday.
Twitter also said that its automated systems have challenged more than 1.5 million accounts using spammy or manipulative behavior to target discussions around COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus. The new data comes as social media companies face criticism for not doing enough to crack down on coronavirus hoaxes.
The social media giant did not state which the tweets it removed. On Sunday, the company removed two tweets by Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, that reportedly included videos of the politician questioning social distancing. Last week, the company deleted a tweet by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for recommending the use of a “natural brew” as a potential cure for the coronavirus.
Twitter also removed a tweet from Rudy Giuliani, US President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus, and temporarily locked his account.
In the tweet, Giuliani quoted conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who falsely claimed that “hydroxychloroquine has been shown to have a 100% effective rate treating COVID-19.” Clinical trials are still needed to prove whether the drug is effective, but there’ve been anecdotal reports that it could have some benefit, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) recently promised to provide £500,000 (approximately $623,000) to the Humanitarian-to-Humanitarian (H2H) Network to battle misinformation in England about the deadly coronovirus disease. H2h is an organization made up of approximately 50 other groups that fought misinformation during the Ebola outbreak in 2013.
The network is also poised to work with social media influencers to pass on accurate information and advice to young people in Southeast Asia and Africa. The British government also plans to work with Bianca Gonzalez, a health expert from the Philippines with more than seven million Twitter followers, and KlikDokter, an Indonesian health blog with approximately four million Facebook followers.