Facebook takes down Trump post saying kids are immune to coronavirus
05 August 2020
Facebook removed a video post from President Trump Wednesday in which he claimed in an interview with Fox News that children are "almost immune" to COVID-19.
Why it matters: It’s the first time that Facebook has removed content from Trump's account for violating policies on coronavirus-related misinformation.
Be smart: In the last couple of weeks, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shown a greater willingness to disagree with Trump. Facebook is often criticized for kowtowing to Republicans and arguing for free speech when people are upset by its content policies.
- In an earnings call last week, Zuckerberg criticized the federal government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying it could have been handled better, and adding there is "no end in sight" to working from home for employees.
- Zuckerberg also hosted a Facebook Live with NIAID director Anthony Fauci amid the disease expert's increasingly icy relationship with the White House.
What they're saying: "This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from COVID-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful COVID misinformation," Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone told Axios.
Between the lines: The company hasn't hesitated to go after world leaders before, recently taking down COVID-19 content posted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
The bottom line: Itlooks like this is another instance of Facebook being more forceful in applying its COVID-19 misinformation policies, against the president in particular.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.