Donald Trump Jr., the son of President Trump, was suspended from Twitter for 12 hours on Tuesday for sharing a video about hydroxychloroquine deemed “misleading and potentially harmful” by the social media company, according to a report from Mediaite.
Trump was sent a notice on Monday that read:
We have determined that this account violated the Twitter Rules. Specifically, for: 1. Violating the policy on spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19. We understand that during times of crisis and instability, it is difficult to know what to do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. Under this policy, we require the removal of content that may pose a risk to people’s health, including content that goes directly against guidance from authoritative sources of global and local public health information.
“As a result,” the message continued, “we’ve temporarily limited some of your account features. While in this state, you can still browse Twitter, but you’re limited to only sending Direct Messages to your followers — no Tweets, Retweets, follows, or likes.”
BREAKING: @Twitter & @jack have suspended @DonaldJTrumpJr for posting a viral video of medical doctors talking about Hydroxychloroquine.
Big Tech is the biggest threat to free expression in America today & they're continuing to engage in open election interference – full stop. pic.twitter.com/7dJbauq43O
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) July 28, 2020
The suspension will last for 12 hours.
The video tweeted by Trump Jr. alleged that hydroxychloroquine information is being suppressed by medical officials, including Dr. Fauci.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Remove Doctors’ Coronavirus Video, Claiming It Is ‘False’
Don Trump Jr.’s spokesman released the following statement to Mediaite:
Twitter suspending Don Jr. for sharing a viral video of medical professionals discussing their views on Hydroxychloroquine is further proof that Big Tech is intent on killing free expression online and is another instance of them committing election interference to stifle Republican voices.”
While there is indeed much disagreement in the medical community about the efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine in treating coronavirus, there have been studies reported on by ‘mainstream’ outlets like CNN, suggesting that it may in fact be an effective treatment,” he continued. “Those pretending otherwise are lying for political reasons.
In April, a survey of doctors found that an overwhelming majority “would prescribe hydroxychloroquine or another anti-malaria drug to a family member” suffering from the coronavirus. A number of coronavirus patients have also come forward reporting their remarkable recoveries after taking the drug. Yet the media and the anti-Trump brigade won’t listen. Even Dr. Fauci said he would prescribe the drug to a patient suffering from the disease.
The media gave lots of coverage to studies that associated hydroxychloroquine with a higher mortality rate. In April, the results of a U.S. Veterans Health Administration study on the benefits of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 reportedly showed that there were “more deaths” among those given hydroxychloroquine than those who just received standard care. However, the VA study wasn’t a clinical trial, but a small, non-peer-reviewed study of patients who were not representative of the entire population, and those with more severe COVID-19 cases were disproportionally administered the drug.
In May, multiple studies claimed that hydroxychloroquine was linked to higher rates of mortality with coronavirus patients. In response to this study, the World Health Organization and many national governments changed their policies and treatment guidelines, and the FDA revoked emergency-use authorization of the drug as a COVID-19 treatment. The bad press surrounding hydroxychloroquine effectively halted trials of the drug, shelving it as a coronavirus treatment. But it turned out that those studies were based on possibly bogus data from a small America-based company called Surgisphere.
However, a recent peer-reviewed study proved it is an effective treatment when administered early, reducing mortality by more than 50 percent. A Yale epidemiologist also declared that hydroxychloroquine is “the key to defeating COVID-19” in a Newsweek op-ed published this past week.
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Matt Margolis is the author of the new book Airborne: How The Liberal Media Weaponized The Coronavirus Against Donald Trump, and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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