What is the harm in misinformation? : shadows of COVID-19 in public discourse online

COVID-19 re-shaped the political landscape across the world but in particularly the United States. While partisanship has long defined US politics, the lack of trust between political protagonists was highlighted throughout 2020, and even shaped everything to do with the virus. It emerged when discussing the way President Trump was handling the crisis as well as just how seriously the threat should be taken. Despite using social media to dismiss concerns of the virus, it was not pandemic-related posts that ultimately led to Trump's removal from social media but the events at the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021, when throngs of people stormed the Capitol Building subsequent to a public speech by Trump earlier that day decrying perceived election injustices. The fact that Donald Trump's statements regarding COVID-19 did not draw de-platforming, yet his statements regarding election integrity did, present a new context for consideration of a perennial question of free speech versus censorship: how do we define harm sufficient to justify removing someone's right to express themselves in that way? If Trump's behaviour via social media was harmful in both the pandemic context and the context of the capitol riots, why was one harm sufficient to justify his de-platforming while the other was not?