Facebook earlier this week said it has begun removing events promoting protests against stay-at-home guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The said events cover areas in California, New Jersey, and Nebraska, USA.
The social media company said it would only take down posts of events that defy local government guidelines. As of writing, stay-at-home orders are still being enacted at the state level in the U.S. Experts say that the guidelines are designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
According to Facebook, it would align with directives mandated by the government. Currently, it is seeking guidance to clarify the scope of state orders in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and New York. The company is yet to make announcements regarding the matter.
"Unless government prohibits the event during this time, we allow it to be organized on Facebook," said Facebook spokesman Andy Stone. "For this same reason, events that defy the government's guidance on social distancing aren't allowed on Facebook."
Ironically, a Pew Research Center survey earlier this month has claimed that a majority of Americans agree with stay-at-home orders. In fact, 66% of respondents said they were more concerned that restrictions would be lifted earlier. And yet, anti-quarantine protests have flared up across the U.S. An example would be the protest at the Washington state capital of Olympia on Sunday, which amassed around 2,500 people. Attendees rallied over stay-at-home guidelines at Colorado's state capitol.
The White House recommends a state record of 14 days of declining COVID-19 cases before quarantine guidelines are lifted. But U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, in a tweet appeared to encourage people to "LIBERATE" Virginia, Minnesota, and Michigan, which are all run by Democratic governors.
Meanwhile, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that anything posted on the social media platform suggesting that social distancing is not an effective way to stop the spread of the virus would be classified as "harmful misinformation" and therefore, would be removed. The company's policy relates to events and promotions of those events on the site.
As of Monday, anti-quarantine groups on Facebook from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin have amassed over 220,000 combined members. These groups were created by three activists brothers who also run gun rights groups.
Monday's drive-in protest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was promoted by the Pennsylvanians Against Excessive Quarantine group on Facebook. The event was live-streamed, showing a group of people rallying on the streets at the state's capitol.
