Covid misinformation: Facebook freezes Venezuela leader’s page

Facebook said Saturday that it was “freezing” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s page for a month after repeated violations of the platform’s rules against Covid-19 misinformation.

“Due to repeated violations of our rules, we are also freezing the page for 30 days, during which it will be read-only,” a Facebook spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said it had removed a video from Maduro’s page “for violating our policies against misinformation about Covid-19 that is likely to put people at risk for harm.”

Maduro had touted what he said was a “miracle” cure for Covid-19, and he had previously promoted other unproven remedies.

But as the Facebook statement said, citing guidance from the World Health Organization, “there is currently no medication to cure the virus.”

Venezuela began vaccinating health workers in February. Punch