Facebook and
YouTube have removed a video featuring Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro in which
he claimed that COVID-19 vaccines were linked to the development of AIDS. Both
Facebook and YouTube said that the video went against their policies. “Our
policies don’t allow claims that COVID-19 vaccines kill or seriously harm
people,” said a Facebook spokesperson after the video was taken down last Sunday.
YouTube too
released a statement saying, “We removed a video from Jair Bolsonaro’s channel
for violating our medical disinformation policy regarding COVID-19 for alleging
that vaccines don’t reduce the risk of contracting the disease and that they
cause other serious infectious diseases.”
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The Joint United
Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) has maintained that COVID-19
vaccines that have been approved by health regulators are safe for people
living with HIV, the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS).
This is not the
first time that the Brazilian president has got his videos de-platformed for
making unverified claims on YouTube. In July, Alphabet-owned YouTube removed videos
in which Jair Bolsonaro can be seen recommending the use of hydroxychloroquine and
ivermectin against COVID-19 despite there being no existing evidence that these
drugs work against the coronavirus.
After his videos
were removed once, Jair Bolsonaro had avoided making claims on drugs for some
time. He had stuck to recommending early treatment in general for COVID-19.
However, the far-right leader who has faced international backlash over his handling
of the coronavirus once again got his video removed.
Bolsonaro tested
positive for COVID-19 in July last year. At the time, he said hydroxychloroquine,
an anti-malarial drug, had aided his recovery from mild symptoms. While the
President has himself decided to not take vaccines, he has vowed to vaccinate
all Brazilians. Deleting the video, YouTube suspended Bolsonaro for seven days,
according to Brazilian media.