Tweet is from 2019. It this condition still in play?
Yes, but it doesn't count towards the minimum approve count for PR to be allowed to be merged. It's basically just a comment.
It's configurable now
Very outdated, but also something that was not necessarily bad. Quite often people might be part of community and have an interest in becoming a maintainer over time, this a chance for them to also help out before giving them elevated privileges.