Twitter, Facebook, Instagram Delete Bolsonaro’s Posts for Violating Rules

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Twitter deleted two posts from President Jair Bolsonaro‘s official account on Sunday night, March 29th. In place of the Sunday afternoon’s posts, is the message: “Tweet is no longer available because it violated our Rules”.

“Twitter recently announced the extension of its rules worldwide to cover content that may be contrary to public health data from official sources and may place people at greater risk of transmitting the COVID-19. The details of the extension are available in this post on our blog”.

In the post mentioned by the company, all kinds of messages that may endanger public health in relation to coronavirus are listed.

Content conflicts with world health authorities

Twitter did not disclose which specific points of the images or comments in the two posts led to their deletion. In addition to the two deleted posts, there are other posts from Bolsonaro’s stroll in Brasília and his statements on Sunday about the coronavirus which remain on the air.

Health authorities around the world advocate that everyone remain at home to reduce the risks of those who must work, such as those in essential sectors such as health, transport, and plants, among others. Bolsonaro, however, insists on a more restricted isolation, only for the elderly and chronically ill.

This was the first time Twitter deleted posts by the President of Brazil. The company also deleted a post by Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro’s post included a homemade recipe for a drink that could supposedly be useful in curing the disease.

After Twitter, Facebook also decided on Monday, March 30th, to delete President Jair Bolsonaro’s post from its platforms, because it believes it leads to “misinformation” that could “cause real harm to people”.

The post is from one of the videos of the President’s stroll through the Federal District on Sunday, which led to crowding and countering his own Minister of Health, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who recommended that people remain at home as a measure to tackle the novel coronavirus.

The video was also deleted from Instagram, a social media company that belongs to Facebook. “We removed content on Facebook and Instagram that violates our Community Standards, which do not allow misinformation that can cause real harm to people,” the company said in a statement.

In the midst of the pandemic, Twitter, Facebook and other technology companies like Google and Microsoft signed a joint statement in which they committed to fighting fraud and misinformation on the novel coronavirus.

Since then, they have tightened their filters on posts about the subject on their platforms.

In the footage that was deleted by Facebook, Bolsonaro mentions the use of chloroquine for the treatment of the disease and advocates an end to social isolation.

Hydroxychloroquine, a combination of chloroquine and azithromycin, is in its testing stage and there is no evidence of its effectiveness against the novel coronavirus.

In Taguatinga, a satellite district of Brasília, Bolsonaro is seen chatting with casual workers, listening to criticism of the quarantine, nodding in agreement, and saying that the drug is working.

The other post deleted by Twitter is still active on Facebook and Instagram. In it, in Sobradinho, another satellite of Brasília, the President walks into a butcher shop, talks to employees, projects the unemployment that social isolation can cause and, again, mentions the drug.

Bolsonaro currently has 12.2 million followers on Facebook,15.9 million on Instagram and 6.3 million on Twitter.