Facebook Cracks Down on Disinformation, Maduro’s Page Frozen for 30 Days

Controversial Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro recently came under fire for propagating COVID-19 disinformation, and had his Facebook page frozen for 30 days. 

Maduro is now blocked from posting anything on his account, and his profile will be limited to “read-only” status, under which he is barred from most actions beyond viewing the posts of other users. 

One of Maduro’s previous posts advertised a “cure” for COVID-19, claiming that one could relieve themselves of the disease through the thyme-based product Carvativir. Although Maduro promoted the solution as a “miracle,” his claims haven’t been confirmed by the scientific community, and are thereby classified as disinformation. 

The update was officially announced on Saturday, as Facebook issued the following statement towards BBC:

“We removed a video posted to President Nicolas Maduro’s page for violating our policies against misinformation about COVID-19 that is likely to put people at risk for harm. We follow guidance from the WHO [World Health Organization] that says there is currently no medication to cure the virus. Due to repeated violations of our rules, we are also freezing the page for 30 days, during which it will be read-only.”

Maduro is not the first leader to be shot down by Big Tech, and he likely won’t be the last. Former POTUS Donald Trump has seen similar restrictions, with his Twitter page being permanently banned from the platform. 

In their debrief, Twitter used similar warranting to that which was used against Maduro. 

“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”

During the last three months of 2020, Facebook and Instagram were forced to remove upwards of 1 million posts promoting COVID-19 disinformation. 

In response to Maduro’s ban, the Venezuelan government released a statement condemning Facebook’s actions, noting, “We are witnessing a digital totalitarianism exercised by supranational companies who want to impose their law on the countries of the world.”

Big Tech’s legal shield comes partially from Section 230, a provision in the communications decency act. Such protection allows them to moderate whatever content they so choose. 

Maduro plans to use his wife’s Facebook page on his behalf, leading to Facebook taking further action.