Elon Musk tweeted a piece of misinformation about children being 'essentially immune' to coronavirus, but Twitter isn't taking it down
- Elon Musk tweeted on Thursday that children are "essentially immune" to coronavirus, which is false.
- Twitter announced in a blog post on Thursday that it would crack down on coronavirus misinformation, including things like: "COVID-19 does not infect children because we haven't seen any cases of children being sick."
- But Twitter says it won't suppress Musk's tweet.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Twitter won't take action on a tweet sent by Tesla billionaire Elon Musk claiming children are "essentially immune" to the novel coronavirus.
That's despite the company announcing this week it would tighten up its rules on coronavirus misinformation.
Giving his opinion on Thursday, Musk said of the virus: "Kids are essentially immune, but elderly with existing conditions are vulnerable. Family gatherings with close contact between kids & grandparents probably most risky."
While Musk is in line with many health authorities by saying that family gatherings with elderly relatives should be avoided, it is not true that children are immune to the virus. Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although adults account for the majority of confirmed cases and are at higher risk, children can get sick with coronavirus.
Musk's tweet bears striking resemblance to an example of the type of content Twitter's going to crack down on given in a blog post on Thursday.
Twitter said it would suppress, emphasis ours:
"Denial of established scientific facts about transmission during the incubation period or transmission guidance from global and local health authorities, such as 'COVID-19 does not infect children because we haven't seen any cases of children being sick."'
Twitter told Business Insider that Musk's tweets didn't violate its rules when looking at the overall context and conclusion. The firm said it would continue to consult its fact-checking partners to identify misinformation that was most harmful.
Musk has consistently given the opinion that the reaction to the coronavirus outbreak has been overblown.
He also said on Thursday that Tesla would manufacture ventilators "if there's a shortage," but went on to question whether such a shortage will emerge.
A February report from Johns Hopkins University said the US has some 160,000 ventilators ready for use in hospitals, with another 8,900 in reserve. Some experts are projecting these numbers will fall overwhelmingly short of demand.