Facebook, Twitter and Youtube have deleted a viral video by some US doctors who claimed to have found a cure to covid-19 in a combination of hydroxychloroquine, zinc and Zithromax.
The video which was first uploaded over the weekend was a press conference by several doctors practicing in the US who claimed to have cured patients by using the in-expensive combination of drugs that have so far been greatly controversial as the WHO and other doctors point to studies that show hydroxychloroquine being unsafe.
The video had been watched more than 20 million times on Facebook with several users re-uploading in different countries and regions. Users who uploaded the video were warned and in some cases banned from the use of the platform. Donald Trump Jnr got a 12 hour ban from posting on Twitter for sharing the video.
The key frame that went viral was the address by Dr. Stella Immanuel, a Nigerian born US citizen working as a doctor in Huston Texas and a minister. The doctor claimed to have cured more than 300 covid-19 patients, some with underlying medical conditions with the age of the oldest patient at 81 years old, all having recovered.
The more controversial parts of the videos are that the doctors claims which are in conflict with the WHO recommendations in stopping the spread of the virus.
The doctors claimed that students need not break from scholl as children were least affected by the virus and that they found no proof of student to teacher infection. This is against the social distancing guidelines which have seen nearly all countries in the world put a temporary hold on school from kindergarten/nursery level to the universities and tertiary colleges.
Another doctor claimed that the wearing of face masks was ineffective in stopping the spread of the virus, a claim against the WHO recommendations that everyone wears a face mask while interacting with people. Again, this has seen countries across the world issue their own guidelines and in some cases laws for citizens to have face masks on while in public places.
President Trump is now accusing the social media companies of censorship and anti-conservative bias, before signing an executive order aimed at curbing protections for the sites as publishers.
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