When Twitter banned Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 riots, many rejoiced at finally being rid of relentless misinformation at the hands of the former president. Then, when Twitter then actively enforced its civic integrity policy against further misinformation about the 2020 election, the platform felt a little safer — but apparently that only lasted until two months later, when the platform stopped enforcing the policy against 2020 election lies at all.
Twitter spokesperson Elizabeth Busby recently told CNN that the company has not been enforcing the civic integrity policy in relation to 2020 election lies "since March 2021." Busby also maintained that this change in policy enforcement has been known since June 2021, as reported in a New York Times article. However, the referenced article only mentions that Twitter had "loosened its enforcement since March," while Busby's statement makes clear there has been no enforcement happening at all.
According to Twitter, the civic integrity policy exists to provide guidelines around "directly harmful types of content," mainly targeting false claims on how to participate in civic processes, intimidation or suppression of civic processes, and false affiliation. In Sept. 2020, Twitter expanded this policy to allow labeling or removal of "false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election or other civic process."
In the two months following the Jan. 6 riots, this policy allowed for any mention of...
A man in his 30s has been referred to prosecutors for claiming on his social media account that the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising was a riot instigated by spies. The Daegu Dalseo Police Station...