Facebook is banning anti-quarantine protest marches in the United States that violate the social distancing norms prescribed by the World Health Organisation and the government to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.
To give you some context, people in some states across the US are protesting against the lockdown enforced to contain the spread of the virus outbreak. Protest marches are being conducted in several states including Texas, Washington, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, California and Minnesota among others.
Responding to these protest marches, Facebook has said that it is banning protest marches that violate the social distancing norms. The company also said that it has removed events in Nebraska, New Jersey and California that promote anti-quarantine protests. It is seeking government’s advice on whether or not the anti-quarantine protests violate the stay-at-home orders in New York, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The company, however, is allowing events that make social-distancing norms clear.
“Unless the government prohibits the event during this time, we allow it to be organized on Facebook,” Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said in a statement to the media adding, “For this same reason, events that defy government’s guidance on social distancing aren’t allowed on Facebook.”
When asked about the new norms, Facebook Chief Executive Office, Mark Zuckerberg in an interview with Good Morning said the events could be classified as harmful misinformation if they claim that social distancing isn’t effective in combating coronavirus outbreak.
“It’s important that people can debate policy, so there’s a line on this. But, you know, more than normal political discourse, I think a lot of the stuff that people are saying that is false around a health emergency like this can be classified as harmful misinformation,” Zuckerberg said in a statement.
