Twitter and Facebook Suspend Trump Accounts for Posting False COVID-19 Information

Facebook Takes Down Trump President's Video for the First Time
Twitter Suspends Trump Election Camp Twitter Account
'False Claims on COVID-19 Children's Immunity'

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Twitter and Facebook have each taken action against U.S. President Donald Trump for making false claims related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Twitter restricted the Trump presidential campaign account from posting additional tweets until President Trump removed a video containing false claims, while Facebook deleted the post in question.

On the 5th (local time), Twitter and Facebook took action over a video containing an interview with President Trump on Fox News. In the interview, President Trump stated that "(children are) almost immune to COVID-19," which both Twitter and Facebook deemed as "false information," leading to their sanctions.

Twitter initially hid the tweet containing the video and prevented the Trump campaign account from posting further tweets until President Trump deleted the post. Similarly, Facebook deleted the video posted by President Trump for the same reason and labeled the link with "This content is not available."

Both companies pointed out that President Trump's post violated their policies prohibiting the distribution of false information related to COVID-19. Twitter spokesperson Liz Kelly said, "President Trump's tweet violated Twitter's COVID-19 misinformation policy," adding, "President Trump must delete the information to post again on Twitter."

Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone also stated, "This video contains misinformation and violates Facebook's policy on false information related to COVID-19." This is the first time Facebook has deleted a video posted by President Trump.

The U.S. daily newspaper The Washington Post (WP) requested a statement from the Trump presidential campaign regarding the social network companies' actions, but the campaign reportedly avoided giving a direct response.

During a phone interview with Fox News, President Trump claimed, "Schools should reopen," and "Children mostly have strong immune systems. Most are immune to COVID-19." He further stated, "Even if children contract COVID-19, they experience mild symptoms and are less contagious than adults."

WP pointed out that 240,000 children in the U.S. have been infected with COVID-19, stating that President Trump's claims differ from the facts.