Don't hold your breath for Twitter to go after ChiComs spreading COVID19 lies (but be sure you 'don't misgender anyone')

Sarah D | 4:40 PM on March 23, 2020

The ChiComs have been using Twitter to spread a lot of fake news about COVID19.

US CDC admitted some #COVID19 patients were misdiagnosed as flu during 2019 flu season. 34 million infected & 20000 died. If #COVID19 began last September, & US has been lack of testing ability, how many would have been infected? US should find out when patient zero appeared.

— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 22, 2020

A hostile foreign power is abusing an American platform in the attempt to sow discord and division in a nation in crisis. @Twitter should think long and hard before it permits the CCP to use Twitter's platform and resources to spread misinformation. https://t.co/HcQaXlZMOJ

— David French (@DavidAFrench) March 22, 2020

Yeah, well, apparently Twitter isn’t too upset about it:

New: Twitter says that rampant coronavirus disinformation from Chinese government officials, most notably MFA spokesman @zlj517, does not violate the company's terms of service https://t.co/X53FKLhBL2

— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) March 23, 2020

Twitter Says Beijing’s Coronavirus Lies Are Just Fine https://t.co/24JzGjq4lw

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 23, 2020

More from Lachlan Markay:

Coronavirus disinformation spread by senior Chinese government officials does not violate Twitter’s terms of service, a spokesperson for the company told The Daily Beast on Monday.

The spokesperson pointed to language on its website, which gives wide latitude to statements from government officials. “Presently,” the company says, “direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on economic or military issues are generally not in violation of the Twitter Rules.”

According to Twitter, that language applies to recent falsehoods related to the novel coronavirus shared widely by senior Chinese officials, including the top spokesman for the country’s ministry of foreign affairs and a number of Beijing’s ambassadors around the world.