A viral video retweeted by Donald Trump that showed doctors making false and dangerous claims about the coronavirus was removed from major social media platforms.
The video, published by the ring-wing media outlet Breitbart, showed a group in white lab coats holding a press conference outside of the Supreme Court in DC. The group calls themselves “America’s Frontline Doctors,” but it’s unclear if these are actual medical doctors.
“This virus has a cure, it’s called hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax,” one woman claims in the video. “You don’t need masks; there is a cure.”
The group continued to say that recent studies showing hydroxychloroquine doesn’t treat coronavirus is “fake science” sponsored by “fake pharma companies.”
On Monday, Trump retweeted the video, and it quickly went viral on Facebook and other platforms.
But now Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have pulled the video from their sites because it spreads false information. In fact, Twitter even suspended the celebrity-in-chief’s son Don Jr’s Twitter account for 12 hours after he promoted the same video.
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“We’ve removed this video for sharing false information about cures and treatments for COVID-19,” a Facebook spokesperson told CNN, adding that the video is “showing messages in News Feed to people who have reacted to, commented on or shared harmful COVID-19-related misinformation that we have removed, connecting them to myths debunked by the WHO.”
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We’re taking action in line with our COVID misinformation policy,” a Twitter spokesperson told CNN.
The videos have been removed from Trump’s account, and the White House has yet to comment on the matter.
