To moderate misinfo, or not — that is the question

Twitter under new CEO Elon Musk published rules for the platform Monday, but the new rules did not include the platform’s policies about misinformation and added to the confusion about what content will be allowed on Twitter under his control.

 

Musk said the rules will “evolve over time,” but the rules he linked to on Monday did not offer guidance on how the company will address false claims on the platform — an issue critics have been sounding the alarm on since Musk closed his $44 billion deal.

 

The new rules do explicitly prohibit action such as the glorification of violence, promotion of terrorism, child sexual exploitation and targeted harassment. They also seek to limit users from impersonating others and from publishing other people’s private information.

 

But the Twitter Rules shared by Musk to his 114 million followers do not reference some of the policies the platform had in place before Musk took over the company as part of his $44 billion acquisition, including rules to mitigate misinformation about COVID-19 or crisis misinformation about areas in conflict, such as Ukraine.

 

Spokespeople for Twitter have not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Hill to clarify how the new rules impact enforcement of misinformation policies.