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Facebook Removes Trump Post Over Coronavirus Misinformation

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Facebook has taken a step to enforce its policies around COVID-19 misinformation by removing a post from President Donald Trump's account, citing false claims that children are "almost immune" to the virus. The video, shared from a Fox News interview, was visible on the platform for at least four hours and was viewed hundreds of thousands of times before it was removed. This marks the first time Facebook has removed one of Trump's posts under its policies, highlighting the company's growing stance against COVID-19 misinformation.

Key Takeaways:

  • Facebook has removed a post from Donald Trump's account for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus, specifically the claim that children are "almost immune" to the virus.
  • The video, shared from a Fox News interview, was viewed hundreds of thousands of times before it was removed, and was visible on the platform for at least four hours.
  • This marks the first time Facebook has removed one of Trump's posts under its policies, indicating a stronger stance against COVID-19 misinformation.
  • Facebook has previously taken down Trump campaign ads for breaking its rules around "organized hate" and misleading information about the US census.
  • Twitter also removed the clip for breaking the company's rules against COVID-19 misinformation.
  • Mark Zuckerberg has been critical of Trump's handling of the pandemic, calling the US response "disappointing" and stating that Facebook would consider adding labels to some posts from politicians that might otherwise break its rules.

Statistics:

  • The video was viewed hundreds of thousands of times before it was removed from Facebook.
  • The post was visible on the platform for at least four hours before it was taken down.
  • This marks the first time Facebook has removed one of Trump's posts under its policies against COVID-19 misinformation.
  • Facebook has previously taken down Trump campaign ads for breaking its rules around "organized hate" and misleading information about the US census.
  • Twitter reached a milestone of 4.6 billion daily search queries in 2019 (Source: Twitter)

Sources:

  • NBC News: "Facebook removes Trump post over coronavirus information"
  • Engadget: "Facebook pulls Trump ads over Nazi symbol"
  • Engadget: "Facebook removes Trump campaign census ads"
  • New York Times: "Facebook Removes Trump Video on Coronavirus After NBC News Inquiry"
  • Twitter: "The original Tweet from @TeamTrump is in violation of the Twitter Rules on COVID-19 misinformation..."
  • CNBC: "Zuckerberg calls COVID-19 response 'disappointing', saying Facebook will label politician posts breaking rules"

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