Facebook removes Donald Trump's post over 'harmful COVID misinformation' - technews

Facebook said Wednesday it had removed a video post by US President Donald Trump in which he contended that children are “almost immune” to the coronavirus, a claim the social network called “harmful COVID misinformation.”

This was the first time the leading social network has pulled a post from the president’s page for being dangerously incorrect, although it did remove a post from his campaign’s page for using a Nazi symbol.  The video clip from a Fox News interview “includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation,” a Facebook spokesperson told AFP.

The move came as Facebook faces pressure to prevent the spread of misinformation while simultaneously being accused of silencing viewpoints by calling for posts to be truthful.  Trump defended his comments when questioned about them during a White House press briefing.

“I’m talking about (being immune) from getting very sick,” Trump said.

“If you look at children I mean they are able to throw it off very easily.”

Health officials have urged people of all age groups to protect themselves against exposure to the virus, saying everyone is at risk.