Facebook Groups Promoting Ivermectin as a Covid-19 Treatment Are Getting Beautiful

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Facebook became more aggressive While enforcing coronavirus misinformation policies last year. But the platform remains a popular place for people discussing how to get and use it. ivermectinA drug typically used to treat parasitic worms, although it has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. warned people not to take To treat Covid-19.

Facebook has removed a handful of groups dedicated to these discussions. But dozens more are still standing, according to recent research. In some of these groups, members discuss strategies to escape the rules of the social network.

Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group, has found 60 public and private Facebook groups dedicated to the ivermectin discussion, with tens of thousands of total members. After the organization flagged the groups to Facebook, 25 of them were shut down. The remaining groups surveyed by The New York Times had about 70,000 members. Data from CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned social network analytics tool, showed that groups generate thousands of interactions each day.

Facebook said it has banned the sale of prescription products, including drugs and pharmaceuticals, on its platforms, including through advertisements. “We are removing content that attempts to buy, sell or donate ivermectin,” Facebook spokesperson Aaron Simpson said in an emailed statement. “We also enforce sanctions against any account or group that violates our Covid-19 and vaccine policies, including claims that ivermectin is a guaranteed cure or guaranteed prevention, and we do not allow ads promoting ivermectin as a Covid-19 treatment.”

In some of the ivermectin groups, administrators—people responsible for moderating posts and adjusting settings such as whether the group is private or public—have given instructions on how to avoid Facebook’s automatic content moderation.

In a group called Health Heroes for Personal Choice, a manager instructed people to remove or misspell fashion words and avoid using the syringe emoji.

One admin, referring to video services like YouTube and BitChute, added: “If you want to post a video from you, hide it in the comments.” Facebook rarely checks the comments section misinformation messages.

Facebook said in general looks at the actions of managers When determining if a group violates the platform’s rules, and if moderators do, this will count as a strike against the public group.

Groups also refer members to alternative platforms where content moderation policies are more lax. Ivermectin vs. In a Facebook group with more than 5,000 members called Covid, a member shared a link to join a channel on Telegram, a messaging service, for more discussion about “the latest good news surrounding this miracle pill.”

“Ivermectin is clearly the answer to solving covid and the world is waking up to this reality,” the user said.

The Times, Ivermectin vs. After contacting Facebook about the Covid group, the social network removed it from the platform.

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