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Facebook has closed the page of the political party Advance New Zealand, which joins the conspiracy, just two days before the general election, accusing it of spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.
The action against a registered political party in the middle of an election campaign is unprecedented in New Zealand and comes as Facebook shows a greater willingness to act against false claims made on the social media giant.
“We do not allow anyone to share misinformation on our platforms about Covid-19 that could cause imminent physical harm,” a Facebook spokesperson told AFP, accusing Advance New Zealand of “repeated violations” of that policy.
Advance NZ co-leader Billy Te Kahika said the takedown occurred while addressing his followers online, accusing Facebook of meddling in Saturday’s vote.
“Facebook has officially interfered with the 2020 New Zealand elections,” he said after hastily posting a live video on his personal Facebook page.
“They did it in the middle of a broadcast and it’s amazing guys. This is amazing … they’ve really delivered on the threat.”
Facebook has been criticized in the past for taking a hands-off approach to dealing with falsehoods posted on its platforms.
But in recent weeks, the company led by Mark Zuckerberg has cracked down on misleading political claims, bogus accounts that push partisan agendas, and hate speech like Holocaust denial.
Facebook recently banned a politician from the Hindu nationalist ruler BJP for hate speech, and today it blocked links to a New York Post article that purported to expose the corrupt dealings of the United States’ Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Addressing his move against Advance New Zealand, he said the coronavirus misinformation policies will apply “regardless of anyone’s political position or party affiliation.”
Mr. Te Kahika has accumulated a large following using the online platform, prompting him to enter politics.
The former blues musician’s social media videos claiming the Covid-19 pandemic is fake and part of a conspiracy to enslave people have become very popular since he began posting them earlier this year.
Between late June and early October, Advance NZ’s Facebook page generated more than 5.3 million visits, according to data from social media tracker CrowdTangle.
These are staggering numbers for a new political entrant in a nation of just 5 million people.
Advance NZ page views surpassed 2.8 million from New Zealand’s main opposition National Party and 5.2 million from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Labor Party over the same period.
Advance NZ’s posts on Facebook have also generated much more activity than those of the two main parties.
Advance NZ posts have been shared 148,000 times, compared to less than 110,000 combined for top parties, according to data from CrowdTangle.
However, the huge online presence does not appear to have translated into votes, with an opinion poll released today putting support for Advance NZ at just 1%.
Te Kahika accused Ms Ardern, who is expected to win Saturday’s election due in large part to her government’s success with the coronavirus, of being behind Facebook’s decision to remove the page.
“This is not North Korea, this is not China, but the way this government is behaving you would think it is,” he said.
“This is war,” Te Kahika raged, as her supporters expressed their anger online.
“They did this to Trump, both are a threat to the establishment,” commented one, while another said “the more they fight you, the more credible they make you.”
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