Twitter Inc is reversing changes made to its retweet function intended to curb the spread of misinformation during the US presidential election, the company said. The microblogging site had in October made it difficult for users to retweet a tweet with misinformation and promoted the use of quote tweets, which included commentary from the user. It had also imposed curbs including labeling and removal of tweets calling for people to interfere with the election process or implementation of results.

Twitter said it will no longer prompt quote tweets from the retweet icon. “Retweet functionality will be returning to the way it was before,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Quote tweets instead of retweets were intended to encourage thoughtful amplification, but that has not happened in practice, the company said.

“The use of Quote Tweets increased, but 45 per cent of them included single-word affirmations and 70 per cent had less than 25 characters,” it said.