Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter removed a COVID-19 video tweeted by Trump due to false coronavirus information — but millions had already viewed it

• President Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. retweeted clips from a viral video that touted false coronavirus information.
• The video from Breitbart appeared to be taken down on sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
• The viral video, however, already amassed more than 14 million views on Facebook, according to CNN.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Breitbart video touting misinformation about the coronavirus has gone viral across social media platforms, where clips were retweeted by President Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. 

The video, which got more than 14 million views on Facebook alone according to CNN, which cited CrowdTangle data, has since been taken down from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter — including removing tweets that the president shared.

"Tweets with the video are in violation of our COVID-19 misinformation policy. We are taking action in line with our policy," a Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider.

 

That Breitbart video from the doctors claiming that Hydroxychloroquine cures the coronavirus has been going crazy in anti-vax, anti-mask, reopen Facebook Groups today. Its at >20 mil views on FB. And that doesn't include all the private groups it's been spreading through. pic.twitter.com/QJ8ocMf3aM

— Brandy Zadrozny (@BrandyZadrozny) July 28, 2020

In a tweet, Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said: "Yes, we removed it for sharing false information about cures and treatments for COVID-19." 

"We're showing messages in News Feed to people who have reacted to, commented on or shared harmful COVID-19-related misinformation that we have removed, connecting them to myths debunked by the WHO," Stone said.

Facebook and YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider about the video.

Also, one other thing to note. We're showing messages in News Feed to people who have reacted to, commented on or shared harmful COVID-19-related misinformation that we have removed, connecting them to myths debunked by the WHO.

— Andy Stone (@andymstone) July 28, 2020

NBC News reporter Brandy Zadrozny said the group behind the content of the video, America's Frontline Doctors, was only created on July 15. Zadrozny also said in a tweet that some of the people in the group are physicians, others are not.

The group held a press conference, touting false and unconfirmed information about the coronavirus, including saying that masks are unnecessary despite encouragement from public health experts to wear them and studies showing their effectiveness.

The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 147,000 in the US and infected more than 4 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Right-wing site Breitbart covered the press conference in the video, which went viral before being taken down.

Neither America's Frontline Doctors nor Breitbart could immediately be reached for comment.

 

The #2 most-engaged post on Facebook today is a Breitbart video of a group of doctors claiming that hydroxychloroquine is "a cure for Covid" and "you don't need a mask."

14 million views in 6 hours. (For scale, Plandemic got ~8 million in a few days.)

— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) July 28, 2020

This isn't the first instance of a misinformation video going viral on social media sites. In May, a 26 minutes video called "Plandemic," which also touted widely debunked claims about the virus got millions of views.

Earlier this year, social media sites including Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter agreed to work together and alongside government health agencies to make sure people get accurate information about the coronavirus and the disease it causes. 

"We're helping millions of people stay connected while also jointly combating fraud and misinformation about the virus, elevating authoritative content on our platforms, and sharing critical updates in coordination with government healthcare agencies around the world," a joint statement published to Facebook's website said. "We invite other companies to join us as we work to keep our communities healthy and safe."

However, they've come under criticism for allowing videos like the recent one from Breitbart to go viral. Facebook and YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside London during COVID-19 lockdown

source https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-youtube-twitter-take-down-false-covid-video-shared-trump-2020-7