BREAKING NEWS

Twitter bans harmful false claims about COVID-19 vaccinations

Twitter Inc said on Wednesday that users will be required to remove new tweets that advance harmful false or misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccinations, in an expansion of its rules on coronavirus misinformation.

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 vaccinations are unnecessary because COVID-19 is not real or serious. It will also apply to false claims that have been widely debunked about adverse effects of receiving such vaccines.