Twitter Inc has banned the financial market website Zero Hedge from the social media platform after it published an article linking a Chinese scientist to the outbreak of the fast-spreading coronavirus last week.
Zero Hedge said it received a notification from Twitter on Friday, accusing it of violating Twitter's "rules against abuse and harassment."
The move against the website came as the coronavirus has stoked a wave of anti-China sentiment around the globe. Hoaxes have spread widely online, promoted by conspiracy theorists and exacerbated by a dearth of information from the cordoned-off zone around China's central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began.
Twitter confirmed to Reuters on Sunday Zero Hedge's account on its platform had been permanently suspended for violating "platform manipulation policy."