Twitter suspends Donald Trump Jnr’s account over COVID-19 video

Social media giants, Twitter have locked the account of Donald Trump Junior for 12 hours because of a video he had posted, which violated the social media site’s misinformation policy on COVID-19.

The video which showed some doctors talking about the effectiveness of the drug, hydroxychloroquine, in the fight against COVID-19 was removed by Twitter as it seemed to accuse Dr Anthony Fauci, who directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of ‘suppressing’ the use of hydroxychloroquine.

“It is beyond the pale for Twitter to silence someone for sharing the views of medical professionals who happen to dissent with their anti-hydroxychloroquine narrative,” said Andy Surabian, a spokesman for the president’s son, after sharing a screenshot that said Twitter had temporarily limited @DonaldJTrump Jr’s ability to tweet, retweet or like content.

“We did not suspend the account. The screenshot shared directly says that Twitter required the tweet to be deleted because it violated our rules, and that we would limit some account functionality for 12 hours,” a Twitter spokesman told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Facebook on Tuesday night revealed why it joined other social media platforms including Twitter and YouTube to delete videos by Dr Stella Immanuel, a Nigerian American-based physician, on her claims that she recorded a 100 per cent success rate in the treatment of COVID-19.

Dr Immanuel had claimed to have used hydroxychloroquine, but Facebook, through its spokesperson, told CNN that the claim was fake.

“We’ve removed this video for sharing false information about cures and treatments for COVID-19,” a Facebook spokesperson told CNN.

Facebook added: “The platform 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.”

Also, Twitter worked to scrub the video late Monday night after Trump shared versions of the video that amassed hundreds of thousands of views.

“We’re taking action in line with our COVID-19 misinformation policy,” a Twitter spokesperson told CNN.