Facebook made the decision to censor Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro by removing a video the company claims violated “community standards” by spreading misinformation that “could lead to physical harm.”
Bolsonaro posted a video Sunday in which he said, “Hydroxychloroquine is working in all places.” Facebook took down the video, which featured Bolsonaro talking to a street vendor about whether or not people should return to work, according to BBC News Brasil.
“We remove content on Facebook and Instagram that violates our Community Standards, which do not allow misinformation that could lead to physical harm,” a spokesperson for Facebook told TechCrunch.
Facebook joins Twitter as the second large social media company to censor Bolsonaro after two of the Brazilian president’s tweets were removed over the weekend after he questioned the practicality and necessity of quarantining due to coronavirus fears.
Hydroxychloroquine has shown some anecdotal promise as a potential treatment for the coronavirus, and the Food and Drug Administration recently issued a limited emergency approval of the drug.
A Florida man claimed last week that the drug saved his life from the coronavirus.
[Related: New coronavirus tests and drugs offer glimmer of hope]
“[The doctor] gave me all the reasons why I would probably not want to try it because there are no trials, there’s no testing, it wasn’t something that was approved,” Rio Giardinieri, 52, told the press. “And I said, ‘Look, I don’t know if I’m going to make it until the morning,’ because at that point, I really thought I was coming to the end because I couldn’t breathe anymore.”
“To me, there was no doubt in mind that I wouldn’t make it until morning,” Giardinieri said. “So to me, the drug saved my life.”
President Trump has expressed support for investigating the potential benefits of the drug.
“HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH … be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE!” the president tweeted earlier this month.
