Silicon Valley Cracks Down On 'Harmful' Trump Coronavirus Misinfo

Palo Alto CA

06 August, 2020

1:46 PM

Description

MENLO PARK, CA — Facebook and Twitter took forceful action Wednesday against President Trump for using their platforms to spread what they dubbed as coronavirus "misinformation." Both social media giants removed posts from the president's accounts of a video clip taken from a Fox News interview in which he falsely claimed that children are "almost immune" to COVID-19. A Facebook spokesman described the president's statement as "harmful COVID misinformation." In the since-removed video clips from a telephone interview with "Fox & Friends" in which President Trump pushes for reopening schools he said "If you look at children, children are almost — and I would almost say definitely — but almost immune from this disease," and that they have stronger immune systems." He added: "They've got much stronger immune systems than we do somehow for this. They don't have a problem. They just don't have a problem." Facebook's action came amid internal pressure within the Menlo Park-based company and from advertisers who have expressed open opposition to the company's laissez faire approach to the president's use of its platform to propagate misinformation and threatening statements about the Black Lives Matter protests in particular, The New York Times reports. Twitter has taken more aggressive stance against the president's use of his account. The San Francisco-based company removed a tweet in the aftermath of George Floyd's death in police custody May 25 that said "These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts." Twitter added a gray box that hid the post from public view which said, "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence," The Washington Post reports. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg came under fire for declining to remove an identical post. This time, however, the president apparently went too far. "This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation," Facebook spokesman Andy Stone told The Washington Post. The White House fired back in a statement from deputy national press secretary Courtney Parella. "Another day, another display of Silicon Valley's flagrant bias against this president, where the rules are only enforced in one direction. Social media companies are not the arbiters of truth." Full coronavirus coverage: Coronavirus In California: What To Know More coronavirus coverage: Waitress Who Booted Disgraced Tech CEO Gains Hero StatusSan Mateo County Added To State's Watch ListMask Enforcement Fine Measure To Go Before San Mateo County SupesWatch: 'Karen' Rant At South Bay Post Office Captured On Video