Twitter announced it’s clamping down on 5G-related conspiracy theories that have been riotously circulating through social media causing destruction and vandalism of wireless properties.
As COVID-19 cases continued to rise around the world over the past month, Twitter users took to the platform to voice unsubstantiated claims linking 5G cellular technology to the pandemic. In a number of incidents reported throughout the UK, these conspiracy theories led to the destruction of several cell towers.
According to Tech Crunch, Twitter announced broadened guidance over unverified claims that have provoked harmful activity leading to the destruction or damage of critical 5G infrastructure. Concern for “widespread panic, social unrest, or large-scale disorder” was also noted as a reason for the decision to monitor Twitter activity.
“We’re prioritizing the removal of COVID-19 content when it has a call to action that could potentially cause harm,” a spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch. “As we’ve said previously, we will not take enforcement action on every Tweet that contains incomplete or disputed information about COVID-19. Since introducing these new policies on March 18, we’ve removed more than 2,200 Tweets. As we’ve doubled down on tech, our automated systems have challenged more than 3.4 million accounts which were targeting discussions around COVID-19 with spammy or manipulative behaviors.”
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