Twitter blocks tweet from Trump adviser downplaying masks

New York, October 19

Twitter blocked a submit on Sunday from an adviser to President Donald Trump who steered that masks don’t work to cease the unfold of the coronavirus.

Scott Atlas, who joined the White House in August as a science adviser, had tweeted “Masks work? NO,” and stated widespread use of masks isn’t supported.

The tweet violated a Twitter coverage that prohibits sharing false or deceptive misinformation about COVID-19 that might result in hurt, an organization spokesperson stated. The coverage bans statements which were confirmed to be false or deceptive by consultants resembling public well being authorities.

In such circumstances, Twitter disables the account till its proprietor deletes the submit in query.

Trump has downplayed the significance of masks in decreasing the unfold of the virus, even after he contracted the illness, which has killed greater than 215,000 Americans.

“I don’t understand why the tweets were deleted,” Atlas stated in an e mail, calling Twitter’s actions censorship. He stated his tweet was meant to indicate that “general population masks and mask mandates do not work,” and he clarified that the right coverage is to make use of masks when one can not socially distance.

Atlas added that infections exploded even with mandates in Los Angeles County, Miami-Dade County, Hawaii, Alabama, the Philippines, Japan and different locations.

Researchers have concluded that masks can management the unfold of the virus, and public well being consultants have urged the general public to put on them. But Trump and his workforce usually go with out masks whereas campaigning.

Atlas, the previous chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Centre and a fellow at Stanford’s conservative Hoover Institution, has no experience in public well being or infectious illnesses. He has criticised the coronavirus lockdowns and campaigned for kids to return to lecture rooms. Some scientists view Atlas as selling harmful theories round “herd immunity”.

Last week, Twitter and Facebook moved shortly to restrict the unfold of an unverified political story printed by the conservative-leaning New York Post. The story cited unverified emails from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son, and it has not been confirmed by different publications. There have been no new tweets from the Post since October 14, indicating Twitter should still be blocking the newspaper’s tweets. AP