Facebook, Twitter Take Down Trump Video Claiming Children 'Almost Immune' To Coronavirus

Facebook Inc FB and Twitter Inc TWTR removed a video from their platforms where President Donald Trump could be seen claiming that children are immune to COVID-19, National Public Radio reported Wednesday.

What Happened

Both social media companies removed the clip from Trump's interview with Fox News, in which the president urged school reopenings and said children are “almost immune from this disease."

Facebook removed a post containing the video from the president's personal page, while Twitter temporarily blocked his election campaign account until it removed the clip.

“This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation,” a Facebook spokesperson said, according to NPR.

Courtney Parella, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, described the action of the social platforms as a “display of Silicon Valley's flagrant bias against this president, where the rules are only enforced in one direction.”

Why It Matters

In June, Twitter took down a video by the Trump campaign that paid tribute to George Floyd, a Minneapolis African American who died in an encounter with the police, over copyright issues.

The microblogging platform began moderating the president’s tweets in May when it fact-checked one of his tweets on mail-in ballots. 

Facebook is also facing substantial pressure over the president’s tweets including a major advertising boycott. CEO Mark Zuckerberg refused to moderate the president’s posts previously, and denied having any secret pact with the president.

Last month, Trump’s administration asked the United States Federal Communications Commission to require social media companies to publicly disclose accurate information related to content management. 

Price Action

Facebook shares closed nearly 0.3% lower at $249.12 on Wednesday. Twitter stock closed 1.2% higher at $36.79 per share the same day.