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I think there's a little more nuance than that. While I can't speak for every case, most of the warnings I saw were placed on tweets whose sources were fully or partially unknown. Now, the government certainly isn't all-knowing, but in terms of getting the most reliable data, it's hard to argue that numbers from hospitals submitted to the government were as questionable as random unverified sources. (Note: this is all dependent on wether or not you think the government intentionally and maliciously doctored the numbers to manipulate people. If that's what you think I don't think we'll be able to see eye to eye).
We also need to consider the unique nature of the pandemic - If people get bad info, they put themselves & others at serious risk. In that sort of scenario, it's hard for me to justify using bits and pieces of less verified data instead of government data (as we have in the past). I don't think it's an easy decision at all and I also can how bad it looks from the other side. But if you frame it as "Private company opts to promote verified data in attempt to save lives" it's not as bad.
Getting wrong info often has spillover effects. Once you allow for that and start saying “only government approved sources because it is too dangerous” you have no free speech.
Also questioning data doesn’t require believing that the government is lying (eg you argue with methodology). Or bringing up other data / idea (eg lab leak).
Right, but Twitter does things based primarily on how it will effect their specific platform. Twitter had to decide fairly quickly which information it would allow and disallow while also giving their users the most accurate info. It's easy to look back and criticize them now but that's a much more difficult decision to make in crunch time when lives are on the line. I know they also were facing concerns about legal action in regards to 'fake' covid news.
I only say this to try to remove as much of the narrative as possible. Clearly Twitter has a history of supporting one side over the other. But looking at their decision to tag (not even necessarily remove) unverified data sources can be explained without anything nefarious: They did the best they could given the time crunch, potential deadly consequences, and potential legal liability.
I would say it’s precisely when it is difficult (eg time is of the essence) that one needs to have robust principles to fall back on. Heavily censoring non-government sources is a bad principle that may have costed lives.
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