Facebook removes Trump post over coronavirus misinformation

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The spokesman said it was the first time that the social media company had removed a Trump post for coronavirus misinformation.

Facebook Inc on Wednesday took down a post by U.S. President Donald Trump, which the company said violated its rules against sharing misinformation about the coronavirus. The post contained a video clip, from an interview with Fox & Friends earlier in the day, Trump claimed that children are "almost immune" to COVID-19.

"This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19, which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation," a Facebook spokesman said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The spokesman said it was the first time that the social media company had removed a Trump post for coronavirus misinformation. It also appeared to be the first reported instance of Facebook taking down a post from the president for breaching its misinformation rules.

The company had previously removed ads from Trump's election campaign for breaking misinformation rules, in that case around a national census. It had also taken down both Trump posts and campaign ads that showed a red inverted triangle, a symbol the Nazis used to identify political prisoners, for violating its policy against organized hate.

A Trump tweet containing the video was still available on Twitter on Wednesday evening. Twitter Inc did not immediately respond to a request for comment.