Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro gestures before a ceremony of lowering the national flag for the night, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, July 24, 2020. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
BRASILIA — Brazilian President found himself in social media time-out Monday after his video warning of a supposed link between Covid-19 vaccines and AIDS triggered action by Facebook and YouTube.
Facebook removed the offending video, while YouTube went further, suspending the far-right leader for one week in addition to blocking the clip.
“We removed a video from Jair Bolsonaro’s channel for violating our medical disinformation policies on Covid-19 by claiming that vaccines do not reduce the risk of contracting the disease and that they cause other infectious diseases,” YouTube said in a statement sent to AFP.
Bolsonaro’s latest run-in with social media networks including Facebook, on which he heavily relies to rally his base, came after he cited purported “official reports” from the British government — since debunked — in his weekly live address on Facebook last Thursday.
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He claimed the reports “suggest that people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are developing Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome much faster than expected.”
“I recommend you read the article,” he added, without saying where the information came from.
