Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is now the target of major social media networks for spreading coronavirus misinformation. The leader's posts relating to COVID-19 have been removed from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
On Monday, Facebook and Instagram took down Bolsonaro's video, which showed him walking around Brasilia and mingling with people. His actions received flak from netizens, given social distancing is one of the World Health Organization's most important recommendations to contain the virus.
In the same video, Bolsonaro also claimed that "hydroxychloroquine is working in all places," despite the drug still undergoing testing if it is indeed effective for treating the disease caused by the coronavirus. As of writing, health authorities have not confirmed if the drug is a cure.
If people wrongly believe there's already a cure for COVID-19, they may be more at ease going out in public and resuming their regular tasks. The WHO recommends that people stay at home for the time being in order to stop the virus from spreading more quickly.
In a statement, Facebook said that it will remove content that "violates our community standards, which do not allow disinformation that might cause real damage to people." Twitter's stance essentially holds the same ideals, prohibiting content that goes "against public health information given by official sources and can put people at greater risk of transmitting COVID-19."
The Brazilian president is one of the few politicians who believe that the coronavirus will cause less harm than driving the economy down. He still has his own share of supporters, demanding that life return to normal despite the WHO declaring the outbreak a pandemic.
But Brazil isn't at all hopeless, as many of its leaders including state governors, mayors, and judges reject Bolsonaro's views. Even some members of his own administration insist on more stringent lockdown measures in a bid to curb the outbreak.
Brazil's currently has more than 4,579 cases of COVID-19 as of Monday. The country's death toll is at 159, the largest figure in Latin America.
The novel coronavirus can cause mild symptoms for some people, but others, especially the elderly and people with preexisting health problems, suffer a more painful ordeal. The disease it causes, called COVID-19, particularly hits the respiratory system.
Bolsonaro has 6 million followers on Twitter, 16 million on Instagram, and 12 million on Facebook. Social media was his greatest weapon in winning the 2018 presidential election in Brazil.
