Facebook, YouTube Removes Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro Video Linking COVID-19 Vaccine to AIDS

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro discovered himself in social media time-out Monday after his video warning of a supposed hyperlink between Covid-19 vaccines and AIDS triggered motion by Fb and YouTube.

Fb eliminated the offending video, whereas YouTube went additional, suspending the far-right chief for one week along with blocking the clip.

“We eliminated a video from Jair Bolsonaro’s channel for violating our medical disinformation insurance policies on COVID-19 by claiming that vaccines don’t scale back the danger of contracting the illness and that they trigger different infectious ailments,” YouTube stated in a press release despatched to AFP.

Bolsonaro’s newest run-in with social media networks together with Fb, on which he closely depends to rally his base, got here after he cited purported “official experiences” from the British authorities — since debunked — in his weekly reside tackle on Fb final Thursday.

He claimed the experiences “counsel that people who find themselves totally vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19 are growing Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome a lot sooner than anticipated.”

“I like to recommend you learn the article,” he added, with out saying the place the data got here from.

“I am not going to learn it right here, as a result of I do not need to lose my Fb reside video.”

Fb, which took down the feedback late Sunday or early Monday, has eliminated Bolsonaro posts up to now.

Earlier, it discovered he unfold misinformation or incited individuals to violate social distancing insurance policies. However that is the primary time it has taken down one in every of his weekly reside addresses, a cornerstone of his communications.

Bolsonaro has violated YouTube requirements as soon as earlier than as properly, and the corporate stated the president will be unable to publish new movies or do reside broadcasts for seven days. 

The remainder of his movies on the channel, the place he has 3.5 million subscribers, will stay accessible.

The British authorities denied any such “experiences” cited by Bolsonaro, in response to an AFP fact-checking staff.

The Brazilian Society of Infectious Illness Specialists stated in a press release there was no proof of any relationship between COVID-19 vaccines and AIDS.

Bolsonaro’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

The president has stated he doesn’t plan to be vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19, and joked up to now the vaccine might “flip you into an alligator.”