Twitter restricted the ability of Donald Trump Jr. to tweet for a 12-hour period, after the president’s son posted a video spreading misinformation about the effects of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.
The social network has required Trump Jr. to delete the tweet with the video, which violated Twitter’s rules about sharing harmful info related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Twitter’s PR team, in response to false claims that it had permanently suspended Trump Jr.’s account, posted in a statement, “This account has not been permanently suspended. Per the screenshot, the Tweet requires deletion because it violates our rules (sharing misinformation on COVID-19), and the account will have limited functionality for 12 hours.”
While President Trump and other right-wing figures have touted hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, as a potential treatment for COVID-19, the FDA has said the drug is “unlikely to be effective” in treating the virus and in June the agency nixed its emergency-use authorization of it.
more to come