Facebook and Instagram remove Bolsonaro video questioning virus quarantine

AFP/File / Sergio LIMABrazilian president Jair Bolsonaro shared

 videos showing him flouting his government's social distancing guidelines

Facebook and Instagram removed videos of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on Monday, saying they spread misinformation about the coronavirus, a day after Twitter did the same.

"We remove content on Facebook and Instagram that violates our terms of use, which do not allow misinformation that could cause physical harm to individuals," Facebook said in a statement in Portuguese.

Twitter on Sunday explained it had removed the videos in accordance with its recently expanded global rules on managing content that contradicted public health information from official sources, and could put people at greater risk of transmitting COVID-19.

The videos showed the far-right leader flouting his government's social distancing guidelines by mixing with supporters on the streets of Brasilia on Sunday and urging them to keep the economy going.

On Saturday, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta highlighted the importance of containment as a means of fighting the coronavirus. Brazil has reported the most coronavirus cases in Latin America so far: 4,256, with 136 deaths.

On Monday, Mandetta again stressed the importance of social distancing in order to slow the virus.

"At this time, we must maintain the highest degree of social distancing, so that we can... give time for the (health) system to strengthen itself," he said.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus, describing it as "a flu" and calling for schools and shops to re-open, with self-isolation necessary only for people over the age of 60.

On Monday, his leading opponents urged him to resign in a joint letter, arguing that he committed a crime with his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Bolsonaro is more than just a political problem, he has become a public-health problem... He should resign," said the statement, which was signed by a dozen leading left-wing figures.

Twitter removes two Bolsonaro tweets questioning virus quarantine

AFP / EVARISTO SA

Brazilian soldiers disinfect the Subway Central Station in Brasilia on March 29, 2020

Two tweets by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in which he questioned quarantine measures aimed at containing the novel coronavirus were removed Sunday, on the grounds that they violated the social network's rules.

The far-right leader had posted several videos in which he flouted his government's social distancing guidelines by mixing with supporters on the streets of Brasilia and urging them to keep the economy going.

Two of the posts were removed and replaced with a notice explaining why they had been taken down.

Twitter explained in a statement that it had recently expanded its global rules on managing content that contradicted public health information from official sources and could put people at greater risk of transmitting COVID-19.

In one of the deleted videos, Bolsonaro tells a street vendor, "What I have been hearing from people is that they want to work."

"What I have said from the beginning is that 'we are going to be careful, the over-65s stay at home,'" he said.

"We just can't stand still, there is fear because if you don't die of the disease, you starve," the vendor is seen telling Bolsonaro, who responds: "You're not going to die!"

In another video, the president calls for a "return to normality," questioning quarantine measures imposed by governors and some mayors across the giant South American country as an effective containment measure against the virus.

"If it continues like this, with the amount of unemployment what we will have later is a very serious problem that will take years to be resolved," he said of the isolation measures.

"Brazil cannot stop or we'll turn into Venezuela," Bolsonaro later told reporters outside his official residence.

On Saturday, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta highlighted the importance of containment as a means of fighting the coronavirus, which has already infected 3,904 people in Brazil, leaving 114 dead, according to the latest official figures.

"Some people want me to shut up, follow the protocols," said Bolsonaro. "How many times does the doctor not follow the protocol?"

"Let's face the virus with reality. It is life, we must all die one day."

In the four videos posted on his Twitter account, Bolsonaro is seen surrounded by small crowds as he walked about the capital.

Bolsonaro has described the coronavirus as "a flu" and advocated the reopening of schools and shops, with self-isolation necessary solely for the over-60s.

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