YouTube Says It Pulled Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro’s Videos for COVID-19 Misinformation

Last year, both Twitter and Facebook took down videos of Bolsonaro over his pandemic pronouncements.

By Reuters | Updated: 22 July 2021 11:45 IST

YouTube Says It Pulled Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro’s Videos for COVID-19 Misinformation

YouTube said in a press release the decision was taken "after careful review"

Highlights

Bolsonaro's YouTube channel plays host to his weekly national addresses
Bolsonaro regularly expounds on his doubts about severity of the virus
The president's office did not immediately respond to request for comment

YouTube said on Wednesday it had removed videos from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's channel for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus outbreak, becoming the latest tech giant to pull his pandemic pronouncements.

YouTube said in a press release the decision was taken "after careful review" and without consideration for Bolsonaro's job or political ideology. The far-right former army captain, who has overseen the world's second deadliest outbreak, has won widespread criticism for railing against lockdowns, touting unproven miracle cures, sowing vaccine doubts and shunning masks.

"Our rules do not allow content that states that hydroxychloroquine and/or ivermectin are effective in treating or preventing COVID-19, that states there is a cure for the disease, or says that masks do not work to prevent the spread of the virus," it said in a statement.

YouTube Blocks Xinjiang Videos in Blow to Popular Rights Group

The president's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last year, both Twitter and Facebook took down videos of Bolsonaro for breaching their terms of use after he made pronouncements that went against the recommendations of global public health experts.

Bolsonaro's YouTube channel plays host to his weekly national addresses, which are folksy, musical events in which he invites on ministers, takes questions from viewers and blasts his enemies.

During the chats, which also go out on his Facebook page, he regularly expounds on his doubts about the severity of the virus, the foolishness of stay-at-home measures and the wonders of unproven drugs like hydroxychloroquine.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

The recently-concluded first season of Loki is our focus this week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.