Instagram first flagged and then deleted a post from Madonna after the pop star shared a viral video with doctors who make false and misleading claims about the coronavirus.
The singer’s Tuesday post was initially deleted with a warning that called it “false information” by independent verifiers, The Guardian reported. It was subsequently removed by the platform.
“We have removed this video for making false claims about cures and prevention methods for COVID-19,” Raki Wane, manager of policy communications for Instagram, said in a statement. “People who reacted to, commented on, or shared this video will see messages that direct them to authoritative information about the virus.”
Madonna reportedly shared with her 15 million followers a clip of a viral video with doctors from a group called Frontline Doctors of the United States who make false and misleading claims about the coronavirus outside the Supreme Court building.
The video showed Stella Immanuel arguing that “you don’t need masks” to prevent the spread of COVID-19. She also claims that studies showing that hydroxychloroquine is not effective in treating the disease are “false science” and are sponsored by “bogus pharmaceutical companies.”
The Houston doctor has previously made other unfounded claims about medical conditions, sexual contact with spirits, the US government, Children’s TV shows, and more.
Madonna reportedly captioned the video with the false claim that a COVID-19 cure “has been found and tested and has been available for months.”
“They prefer to let fear control people and let the rich get rich and the poor get poor,” he wrote, according to The Guardian.
Instagram initially deleted the video and captioned it: “False information.” Users were directed to a page to discredit the claims in the video.
Social media platforms, including the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, as well as Twitter and YouTube, finally removed the video from their sites this week.
President Trump
Donald John TrumpBiden hits Trump’s ‘law and order’ message: he’s trying to ‘scare the devil’ out of people Pelosi hits Barr after testimony: ‘It was like a blot’ and Trump Schumer’s ‘henchman’: Trump should want COVID-19 deal to aid Republican election opportunities MORE, who has repeatedly touted hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 cure, shared versions of the video on Twitter Monday night. His tweets were later removed from the social media site, as was a version of the video shared by Donald Trump Jr.
Twitter also temporarily limited Trump Jr. account, blocking his ability to tweet or retweet for 12 hours.
A Twitter spokesperson told The Hill that the tweets with the video “violate our COVID-19 disinformation policy.”
The video went viral on Facebook Monday night, garnering 14 million views before it was removed. It was shared nearly 600,000 times, CNN reported.
“We have removed this video for sharing false information about cures and treatments for COVID-19,” Facebook’s director of policy communications Andy Stone said in a statement to The Hill.
The video was also viewed on YouTube more than 40,000 times before the site deleted it.
The queen of pop announced in May that she had tested positive for antibodies to the coronavirus. The singer also donated $ 1 million to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support efforts to fund a drug “that will prevent or treat COVID-19.” the independent reported.
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