March 29, 2021

Tech giant Facebook has gone a step further in its effort to combat misinformation, temporarily suspending Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s page for violating his policy against the spread of COVID-19 misinformation. This is not the first time Maduro has made a false statement about the virus on his social media pages. Last March, Twitter removed one of his tweets endorsing a “concoction” that he falsely said could “eliminate the infectious genes” of COVID-19. Facebook not only blocked the president’s page, but also removed a video in which Maduro stated that carvativir, a homeopathic remedy derived from thyme, could be taken to treat coronavirus.

While Maduro had called carvativir a “miracle drop” and a “medical breakthrough,” doctors in Venezuela instead rejected the president’s claims that the claim that Carvativir could cure coronavirus was nothing short of dangerous. Facebook issued guidelines during the pandemic that allowed the country to remove posts that might cause imminent harm, so posts such as false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and others were considered for removal.

For more information read the <a href=”https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/27/22353813/facebook-froze-venezuela-president-maduro-” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>original story</a> from The Verge.