San Francisco: Facebook-Owner Meta said on Thursday that it had kicked one of the most influential US anti-vaccination groups out of the social media network for spreading Covid-19 misinformation.
This Children’s Health Defense (CHD), which has been a critic of Covid vaccines, immediately accused Meta of suppressing its free speech rights.
“Facebook is here acting as a surrogate for the federal government’s crusade to silence all criticism of the government’s draconian policies,” the CHD founder said. Robert Kennedy JrThe late President John F. Kennedy’s nephew said in a press release.
Meta spokesman Aaron Simpson told the media agency that the group’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram were shut down on Wednesday. The ban comes after repeated violations of the meta’s misinformation rules.
CHD said its social media accounts are followed by tens of thousands of people, and claimed that Meta’s action was surprising.
In a release, the group shared a screen capture showing accounts suspended for violating meta policies regarding “false information that can cause real-world harm.”
CHD argued that the ban may be related to a lawsuit filed against Meta that accused the tech giant of violating free speech rights by relying on the US Centers for Disease Control to scientifically support Covid-19 information. .
The anti-vaccine group has appealed a lower court’s ruling against it in the lawsuits, according to legal filings.
