Twitter is giving Donald Trump Jr. a time-out.
Republican strategist Andrew Surabian on Tuesday said Twitter had limited the account of the president's son, sharing a message from Twitter which says he violated the platform's "policy on spreading misleading and potentially harmful misinformation related to COVID-19." Trump Jr. won't be able to tweet or retweet anything for 12 hours, the message said, though he can still browse Twitter and use direct messages.
This comes after Trump Jr. shared a viral video in which a doctor falsely claims there's already a "cure" for COVID-19 which involves taking hydroxychloroquine. In fact, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted Tuesday that clinical trials have indicated that hydroxychloroquine is "not effective in coronavirus disease."
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A spokesperson for Twitter confirmed to Vice it had taken action against Trump Jr. but characterized this as a "temporary lockout until the Tweet is deleted — not a suspension."
Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have removed the viral video, in which the doctor also claims "you don't need masks" amid the COVID-19 pandemic despite health officials and the CDC repeatedly urging their use. President Trump shared the video on Monday. A spokesperson told The Washington Post that "tweets with the video are in violation of our COVID-19 misinformation policy."
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