Facebook freezes Maduro's page for COVID claims

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's Facebook page will be frozen for one month for violating policies against spreading misinformation about the coronavirus, the social media giant said Saturday.

"Due to repeated violations of our rules, we are freezing the page for 30 days, during which it will be read-only," a Facebook spokesperson said.

Putting people 'at risk'

Facebook removed a video from Maduro's page for spreading "misinformation about COVID-19 that is likely to put people at risk." 

Previously, Maduro had proclaimed that a "miracle" cure was available for COVID-19, after also touting other unproven remedies.

But Facebook cited guidance from the World Health Organization in stating that "there is currently no medication to cure the virus."

Venezuela began vaccinating its health workers last month.

Doubts over COVID numbers

The Latin American country has so far reported about 155,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,500 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

But opposition spokesmen have questioned the legitimacy of these figures, suggesting that the true totals are much higher.

jsi/nm (AFP, Reuters)