According to transparency.twitter.com, “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.” I’m not sure when this was posted, but I learned about it this morning.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 says, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider” (47 U.S.C. § 230).
Is Twitter a platform or a publisher? If it is a platform (like a telephone company), then – under Section 230 – Twitter has no responsibility for what is said or discussed. As you know, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are not responsible for what you say when you’re on the phone. If, on the other hand, Twitter is a publisher, it is responsible for what is published. Which is it? Today, Twitter is considered a platform and is therefore not legally responsible for misinformation.
Elon: to knowingly allow people to be misled about a life-threatening disease may not be illegal, but it is immoral. However anyone defines freedom of speech on Twitter (not to be confused with the first amendment), it cannot (and does not) mean freedom of consequences.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.