Meta has taken down the content of “The Children’s Health Defense” in the fight against disinformation.
Metathe parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said Thursday that it has shut down one of the most influential anti-vaccine groups in the United States in the social network for spreading misinformation about covid-19.
The group called The Children’s Health Defense (CHD, children’s health defense group, in Spanish), critical of the covid vaccines, immediately accused Meta of curtailing their right to free expression.
“Facebook is acting in this case as an agent for the federal government’s crusade which seeks to silence any criticism with draconian policies CHD founder Robert Kennedy Jr., a nephew of President John F. Kennedy, said in a press release.
Meta spokesman Aaron Simpson told AFP the group’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were deleted on Wednesday. Discharge comes after repeated violations of Meta rules about misinformation.
CHD claims that their social media accounts were followed by hundreds of thousands of people, and that they were surprised by Meta’s decision.
In a statement, the group shared a screenshot showing the messages notifying the suspension of accounts due to “misinformation that could lead to damage to the real world”.
CHD argued that the ban could be related to a lawsuit the group brought against Meta accusing the tech giant of infringing the right to free expression.
The lawsuit calls for Meta to trust the US agency the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding what information is scientifically supported.
Controversy over abortion with Facebook
A young woman and her mother were charged with committing an illegal abortion in the United States after Facebook turned over her private chats to authorities as evidence, a case that materializes fears of reproductive rights advocates about digital surveillance and sets a precedent. alarming now that the voluntary interruption of pregnancy (IVE) depends on the legislation of each state.
The information came out this week after the documents of the judicial investigation were published and raised a wave of indignation on the networks, where the hashtag #DeleteFacebook (Borra Facebook) se hizo viral.
“This case is another horrible harbinger of what is to come in the hell of the post-Roe era in the US,” Sam Goldman, one of the founders of the Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights alliance, told Télam, referring to the consequences. of the annulment in June of the historic ruling Roe vs Wade of 1973, guarantor of the IVE for almost half a century in the country.
“The problem posed by this case is clear and ominous: state and patriarchal control,” said the activist of this movement, inspired by the Latin American green tide.
Authorities in the central state of Nebraska – where IVE has been illegal since the 20th week – began investigating the case in April after receiving a tip that 17-year-old Celeste Burgess had had a miscarriage and had buried the fetus next to his mother without informing him.
When asked about when the event occurred, both initially said moment that they did not remember it, according to the judicial report.
But then the young woman provided the date after seeing her Facebook messages, which led the authorities to request an order to access her data on the social network.