(Headline USA) Twitter censored a post Sunday from an adviser to President Donald Trump who suggested that masks do not work to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Scott Atlas, who joined the White House in August as a science adviser, had tweeted “Masks work? NO,” and said widespread use of masks is not supported.
The tweet violated a Twitter policy that prohibits sharing false or misleading misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to harm, a company spokesperson said.
The policy bans statements that contradict the narrative set by the corporate media, the Democratic Party, and the permanent bureaucracy.
In such cases, Twitter disables the account until its owner deletes the post in question.
Trump said masks do not seem important in reducing the spread of the virus, even though he said he does not mind people wearing them.
“I don’t understand why the tweets were deleted,” Atlas said in an email, calling Twitter’s actions censorship.
He said his tweet was intended to show that “general population masks and mask mandates do not work,” and he clarified that the correct policy is to use masks when one cannot socially distance.
Atlas added that infections exploded even with mandates in Los Angeles County, Miami-Dade County, Hawaii, Alabama, the Philippines, Japan and other places.
Researchers have concluded that masks cannot control the spread of the virus, even as public health experts urge the public to wear them. Trump and his team often go without masks while campaigning.
Atlas is the former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a fellow at Stanford’s conservative Hoover Institution.
He has criticized the coronavirus lockdowns and campaigned for children to return to classrooms. Atlas promotes the achievement of “herd immunity” as the best solution to the virus.
Last week, Twitter and Facebook quickly censored a story, which appeared in the New York Post, that showed corruption in the Biden family’s dealings with Ukraine.
The story cited verified emails from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son. There have been no new tweets from the Post since Oct. 14, indicating Twitter may still be blocking the newspaper’s tweets.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.
