- Donald Trump Jr.’s Twitter account was restricted after he posted a video of a doctor claiming hydroxychloroquine ‘cures’ coronavirus
- His pokesperson Andrew Surabian posted the notification of the ban, claiming, ‘Big Tech is the biggest threat to free expression in America’
- Trump also retweeted the video and made posts praising hydroxychloroquine
- Dr. Stella Immanuel’s speech was removed from Facebook, Twitter and Youtube
- She slammed ‘fake doctors’ who doubt the efficacy of the drug in treating coronavirus and said to the public ‘you don’t need a mask’
- Silicon Valley CEOs, excluding Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, are expected on Capitol Hill Wednesday to testify in an anti-trust hearing before the Judiciary Committee.
Twitter has banned Donald Trump Jr. from posting any tweets, claiming he shared ‘potentially harmful information’ after posting a link Monday evening to a viral video of a doctor claiming hydroxychloroquine is a ‘cure’ for coronavirus.
‘We’ve temporarily limited some of your account features,’ the Twitter notice to the president’s eldest son reads, adding it will be in effect for 12 hours.
‘We have determined that this account violated the Twitter Rules. Specifically, for: 1. Violating the policy on spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19,’ it continued.
Andrew Surabian, a spokesman to Don Jr., posted an image of the notice to Twitter Tuesday morning, lamenting: ‘Big Tech is the biggest threat to free expression in America today & they’re continuing to engage in open election interference – full stop.’
The ban comes as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet, prepare to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
The hearing will focus on big tech companies and potential antitrust law violations in the industry.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is not on the docket for the hearing Wednesday.
While Don Jr.’s account is in this restricted state, he can still send direct messages on the platform and browse Twitter.
He will not, however, be able to tweet, retweet, follow new accounts or like anyone’s tweets.
President Donald Trump also retweeted Monday night two posts of Dr. Stella Immanuel’s speech making dubious claims that the anti-malaria drug, claiming it has successfully cured people of the virus.
Donald Trump Jr.’s Twitter account was restricted after he posted a video of a doctor claiming hydroxychloroquine ‘cures’ coronavirus
Video of Dr. Stella Immanuel giving a speech outside the Capitol went viral on Monday as President Donald Trump and Don Jr. posted it to their accounts – but the video was removed by Facebook, Twitter and Youtube
Don Jr. called the video a ‘must watch’
Trump retweeted two videos of Immanuel speaking with other ‘American Frontline Doctors’ – but the clip was taken down both times by Twitter citing a violation of the platform’s coronavirus misinformation policy.
Immanuel demanded the social media platforms repost the video, claiming God would crash Facebook’s if they did not comply.
While Don Jr. and his spokesperson called Twitter’s move a suspension from using Twitter, the social media platform clarified in a statement Tuesday: ‘We did not suspend the account.’
‘The screenshot shared directly says that Twitter required the Tweet to be deleted because it violated our rules, and that we would limit some account functionality for 12 hours’ a Twitter spokesperson said.
Surabian said he would not accept that explanation.
‘When the features ‘temporarily limited’ are the abilities to tweet and retweet, what would you call that?’ he tweeted in response to Twitter’s statement. ‘Anyone with a functioning brain would call it a suspension, despite the BS word games @Twitter is playing here.’
Videos of Immanuel’s Friday speech, made outside the Capitol building, went viral on Monday – but were removed on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for spreading misleading information.
The Houston pediatrician demanded the social media platforms reupload her videos, claiming God would crash their computers if they did not repost her speech.
‘Hello Facebook put back my profile page and videos up or your computers with start crashing till you do. You are not bigger that God. I promise you. If my page is not back up face book will be down in Jesus name,’ Immanuel said in a mistake-littered tweet Monday night.
While Immanuel has been embraced by Trump and his supporters, the doctor and religious minister has made some outlandish medical claims in the past.
She has often alleged that gynecological problems, like cysts and endometriosis, are actually caused by people dreaming about having intercourse with demons and witches.
Immanuel also claims scientists are working on a vaccine to prevent people from being born religious and asserts that alien DNA is used in modern-day medical treatments.
Donald Trump Jr. called Immanuel’s viral Friday speech a ‘must watch’ as he posted a link on his Twitter page, causing his account access to be limited by Twitter.
President Trump often lamented that there is social media bias against conservative voices.
Earlier this summer, Trump earned his first ever blue exclamation point when Twitter flagged two of his tweets claiming there are heightened instances of voter-fraud with mail-in ballots as ‘misleading.’
Another one of Trump’s tweets was hidden, with a prompt to reveal the contents of it, this summer after he threatened protesters in the Seattle Autonomous Zone with ‘force.’
‘There will never be an Autonomous Zone’ in Washington, D.C., as long as I’m your President,’ Trump tweeted at the time, referring to an area that was occupied by protesters. ‘If they try they will be met with serious force!’
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday morning also dismissed Trump’s Monday night Twitter rant, which included his post of Dr. Immanuel’s speech along with criticism of Fauci.
‘I don’t know how to address that,’ the nation’s top immunologist told Good Morning America regarding the president’s tweet storm. ‘I’m just going to, certainly, continue doing my job.’
‘I, you know, I don’t tweet, I don’t – I don’t even read them,’ Fauci, 79, told ABC News host George Stephanopoulos. ‘So I don’t really want to go there.’
Trump went on a Twitter frenzy Monday night, including retweets of posts claiming Fauci lied to the country regarding hydroxychloroquine, which the president revealed he has taken as a preventative measure to stop him from contracting coronavirus.
Fauci, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, pushed back Tuesday morning: ‘I have not been misleading the American public under any circumstances.’
Source: Mail Online
