Covid misinfo: FB freezes Venezuela President's page


San Francisco, Mar 28 (IANS): In a bid to tackle spread of misinformation related to Covid-19, Facebook has temporarily frozen the page of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who had promoted a "miracle remedy" to cure the novel coronavirus disease.

The social networking platform also took down a video where Maduro touted Carvativir, a homeopathic remedy extracted from the herb thyme which is also used in ordinary cooking, The Verge reported on Saturday.

The Venezuelan President earlier termed the solution as "miracle drops" and a "medical breakthrough."

These promotions of the solution whose efficacy is not proven came at a time when Venezuela lagged far behind many other countries in procuring vaccines against Covid-19.

Maduro's claims that Carvatavir can treat Covid-19 has been termed "dangerous" by doctors in the country, said the report.

In defence of its move to freeze the Venezuelan President's page, a Facebook spokesperson told The Verge the platform follows guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) which says there is no cure for Covid-19.

"Due to repeated violations of our rules, we are also freezing the page for 30 days, during which it will be read-only," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Facebook's policy requires removal of false claims against Covid-19, but the platform's efforts to combat misinformation can at best be called a mixed success.

 

  

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Title: Covid misinfo: FB freezes Venezuela President's page



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