Facebook, Twitter and YouTube delete ‘false’ Covid-19 video after it goes viral
KEY POINTS
- A Breitbart video containing dangerous coronavirus misinformation went viral on Facebook before it was removed.
- Those in the video claim that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is “a cure for Covid” and “you don’t need a mask” to slow the spread of coronavirus.
- The claims are in contrast to the advice from public health officials to prevent the spread of the virus.
A video containing misleading information on the coronavirus clocked up millions of views before it was pulled from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
WHO CREATED THE VIDEO
The video was created by right-wing media outlet Breitbart. It depicts a group of people dressed in white lab coats — who call themselves “America’s Frontline Doctors” — staging a press conference outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. Those in the video claim that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is “a cure for Covid” and “you don’t need a mask” to slow the spread of coronavirus.
“This virus has a cure, it’s called hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax,” one of the women in the video claims. “You don’t need masks, there is a cure.”
The claims are in contrast to the advice from public health officials to prevent the spread of the virus.
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it had ended the emergency use authorization of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, saying the drugs were “unlikely to be effective in treating Covid-19.”
Masks are also widely accepted to be a reliable safety measure that helps to reduce the spread of the virus.
By late Monday, the video had racked up 20 million views on Facebook, according to NBC News reporter Brandy Zadrozny.
