Brazil's far-right leader has been vehement in his discourse against COVID-19 suppression methods, going against what doctors and researchers advise. Now, Twitter has penalized him by removing videos that go against the platform's terms of service.
Two of Bolsonar's posts were removed and replaced with a notice explaining why they had been taken down. In one of the posts, Bolsonaro called for an end to the quarantine measures and for Brazil to "return to normal".
“If it continues like this, with the amount of unemployment what we will have later is a very serious problem that will take years to be resolved,” he said of the isolation measures.
“If it continues like this, with the amount of unemployment what we will have later is a very serious problem that will take years to be resolved,” he said of the isolation measures.
“Brazil cannot stop or we’ll turn into Venezuela,” Bolsonaro later told reporters outside his official residence.
In the second video, Bolsonaro is on a walking tour, praising the unproven treatment hydroxychloroquine and discussing with a street vendor about how Brazilians need to return to work. In recent videos, Bolsonaro was also seen strolling through crowded areas.
Bolsonaro isn't the only South American leader to receive a social media slap from Twitter. Last week, the site deleted a post by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was promoting a completely unproven “natural brew" to cure COVID-19.
Bolsonaro's videos are still available on Facebook. Twitter has apparently taken a more proactive approach to limit the spread of misinformation and disinformation, whereas Facebook has been far more lenient.
Twitter recently announced a change in its terms of service, prohibiting users from denying local or global health authority recommendations, denying established scientific facts about transmission, and promoting treatments not known to be effective.
This decision will likely prove to be very important in the following weeks, as quarantine will become increasingly difficult to maintain. Several nationalistic leaders, spearheaded by Donald Trump, have publicly supported the idea of reducing quarantine to support the economy -- something which experts agree that will not only cost a lot of human lives, but also have an even worse impact on the economy.
Bolsonaro has been the most vocal denier of the severity of the COVID-19 crisis. He came to power last year promising a strong economy and is turning the pandemic into a political debate, rather than a health one.
"Jair Bolsonaro is alone right now," says Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of the publication Americas Quarterly. "No other major world leader is denying the severity of this to the extent that he is and depending on how things go, that approach could cost a lot of lives in Brazil."
A recent poll from Datafolha found that 73% of people in Brazil supported total isolation, and around 54% approved of local governors’ management of the crisis (contrary to what Bolsonaro wants to happen).
