In the video, doctors ignored the need for face masks amid the pandemic. (File)
Twitter Inc said on Tuesday it had restricted access to Donald Trump Jr.’s account for 12 hours because a tweet it posted violated the social media site’s disinformation policy on COVID-19.
The eldest son of US President Donald Trump posted a video on Monday of doctors talking about the drug hydroxychloroquine, which was deleted by Twitter.
The video was also taken down by Facebook Inc and YouTube owned by Alphabet Inc after racking up millions of views, for breaking their rules on COVID-19 disinformation.
President Trump also retweeted a message Monday night containing a link to the video and accusing Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, and Democrats of cutting the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat the novel coronavirus .
The tweets shared by Trump have been deleted as part of Twitter’s enforcement action records.
Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and has worked under six US presidents, said Tuesday that he had “in no way deceived the American public”.
The United States Food and Drug Administration last month revoked its emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, after several studies cast doubt on its efficiency. Trump has regularly touted the drug and said he has used it himself.
In the video, doctors also dismissed the need for face masks amid the pandemic.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
“It is out of the question for Twitter to silence someone for sharing the point of view of medical professionals who disagree with their anti-hydroxychloroquine narrative,” said Andy Surabian, a spokesperson for the son of the president, after sharing a screenshot indicating that Twitter has temporarily limited @ DonaldJTrumpJr’s ability to tweet, retweet or like content.
BREAKAGE: @Twitter & @jack have suspended @DonaldJTrumpJr for posting a viral video of doctors talking about hydroxychloroquine.
Big Tech is the biggest threat to free speech in America today and they continue to engage in open election interference – period. pic.twitter.com/7dJbauq43O
– Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) July 28, 2020
“We did not suspend the account. The screenshot shared directly indicates that Twitter was demanding the Tweet be removed because it was in violation of our rules, and that we would limit certain features of the account for 12 hours,” a spokesperson said. from Twitter to Reuters.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
