Facebook removed from the platform a video in which Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro cited false information linking the vaccination against Covid-19 to AIDS.
In his last weekly direct on Facebook on Thursday, Bolsonaro relayed information from an article according to which official reports from the British government show that people who have received the two doses of the anti-covid vaccine could "
develop immunodeficiency syndrome acquired (AIDS)
”.
Read alsoCovid-19: the dubious medical experiences in Brazil
“
I recommend that you read this article.
I'm not going to read it here because I risk having problems with my direct (on Facebook),
”he said, seeming to anticipate the possible removal of this content by the social network.
In March, Facebook had already removed a video in which Jair Bolsonaro could be seen provoking a rally in the midst of the second wave of contaminations in Brazil, with more than 2,500 deaths on average per day.
But this is the first time that one of its weekly Thursday direct has been affected by such a measure.
"
Irresponsible
"
The information in the article in question on vaccines and AIDS has been denied by the British government to factual AFP, AFP's fact-checking service. The Brazilian Society of Infectious Disease issued a statement on Saturday in which it assured that there was "
no known link between anti-covid vaccines and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
". The video of the weekly live of last Thursday of the Brazilian president was no longer available Sunday evening on Facebook or on Instagram, another social network of the same group. "
Our policy does not allow the publication of claims that anti-covid vaccines cause death or serious health problems
“, Explained a spokesperson for Facebook.
The Brazilian presidency did not respond to AFP's requests on the subject.
Read also Brazil: "Does Jair Bolsonaro emerge politically weakened from the Covid crisis?"
The far-right president has made many controversial statements about vaccines, going so far as to say last year that Pfizer's could "
turn (people) into crocodiles
."
The head of state has long said that he would be "
the last Brazilian
" to be immunized, before recently announcing that he had completely given up on being vaccinated.
A Senate parliamentary commission of inquiry last week asked for the indictment of Jair Bolsonaro for his policy deemed "
irresponsible
" during the health crisis, incriminating him in particular for delays in the acquisition of vaccines and the dissemination of false pandemic information.
