Twitter banned the Oxford scientist who published this article in the Mail on Sunday, but allowed anti-vaccine ranting amid concerns over new “safety on the internet” powers to allow tech giants to censor legitimate journalism.
- The social media giant has banned epidemiologist Carl Henegan from his platform.
- The article suggested that the UK death toll from Covid-19 may have been inflated.
- This is because the tech giants can get wide powers
Twitter has been accused of censorship after posting a “fake news” warning in a Mail on Sunday article about an Oxford University study that found the UK’s coronavirus death toll could be lower than thought.
Despite allowing accounts that spread dangerous anti-vaccination claims, the social media giant banned prominent academic Carl Heneghan from its platform after he shared a story that happened over the weekend.
It flashed warnings for those who shared a link to an article in Mail Online: “Warning: This link may not be safe.” The link you are trying to access has been identified by Twitter or our partners as potentially spam or insecure.”
The social media giant banned prominent academic Carl Heneghan (above) from his platform after he shared a story last weekend.
An article published over the weekend by Health Associate Editor Eva Simmons reported on the findings of a new analysis that suggests the 164,000 death toll from Covid-19 in the UK may have been inflated.
The researchers reached this conclusion by analyzing 800 responses to freedom of information requests to nursing homes and hospitals to look for flaws in the way deaths are recorded.
The spat comes as the tech giants could gain sweeping powers in a new internet safety bill that campaigners fear could curtail freedom of speech by allowing social media to take down legitimate content because they don’t agree with it. .
Twitter sent an email to Professor Henegan, an award-winning epidemiologist, saying his account, which has 110,000 followers, was “banned” because it “violated a policy of disseminating misleading and potentially harmful information related to Covid-19 “.
An article published this past weekend (pictured) by Health Deputy Editor-in-Chief Eva Simmons reported the results of a new analysis that suggested the 164,000 death toll from Covid-19 in the UK may have been inflated.
It added: “We demand the removal of content that may pose a risk to public health, including content that directly contradicts the guidance of reputable sources of global and local public health information.” Please note that repeated violations may result in permanent suspension of your account.”
Professor Heneghan, director of the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine and involved in the study, last night called the episode “an attack on the free press.”
He added: “It was good journalism based on trying to get to the bottom of the truth, but what seems to be happening here is that people say that when you do it and we don’t like your conclusions, we’ll fire you.” ‘
Imran Ahmed, executive director of the Center for Combating Digital Hate, said the treatment of Prof. Heneghan was especially ridiculous given the sheer amount of anti-vaccine propaganda on Twitter.
Twitter sent an email to Professor Heneghan, an award-winning epidemiologist, saying his account, which has 110,000 followers, had been “banned” (above).
His organization estimates that around 6.3 million people follow Twitter accounts that spread misinformation against vaccines.
“Like all major tech platforms, Twitter has a disgraceful track record of allowing snake oil sellers to spread misinformation about vaccines,” Ahmed said.
Toby Young, director of the Free Speech Alliance, said: “Twitter used to be a free speech advocate, but those days are long gone. Now it’s a conduit for progressive orthodoxy, whether it’s trans women in sports or the pandemic.
“Anyone who challenges this orthodoxy is punished, even if they know more about the subject than the ‘fact checkers’ on Twitter, which Professor Heneghan clearly knows.
Brawl arises as tech giants could get sweeping powers in new internet security bill (file image)
“The crackdown on dissent will only get worse when the internet safety law becomes law. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube will take this as a green light to step up censorship of anyone who does not support the awakening program.”
Media publishers are currently fighting for an exemption from the Internet Safety Act.
Three hours after Professor Heneghan posted the link, Twitter informed him that his account had been suspended. It was restored the next day.
Twitter said the article was mistakenly flagged as fake, but declined to elaborate.
A spokesperson said: “The article’s URL (link) and account referenced have been erroneously applied in accordance with our policy regarding misleading information about Covid-19.” This action was quickly reversed.