US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House. AP Photo
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House. AP Photo
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House. AP Photo
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House. AP Photo

Facebook and Twitter delete Trump post over ‘harmful’ coronavirus misinformation


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Both Twitter and Facebook have removed a post by President Donald Trump for violating their policies against spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.

Facebook removed a post containing a video from Mr Trump’s official account on Wednesday, saying it “includes false claims that a group of people is immune from Covid-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful Covid misinformation”.

A few hours later, Twitter temporarily blocked his Team Trump campaign account from tweeting until it removed a post with a link to the same Fox News video, which shows the US president claiming children are “virtually immune” to the virus.

Mr Trump’s account retweeted the video.

Twitter said the tweet violated its rules against Covid misinformation. “The account owner will be required to remove the tweet before they can tweet again," Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy said.

Twitter has generally been quicker than Facebook in recent months to label posts from the president that violate its policies against misinformation and abuse.

This is not the first time that Facebook has removed a post from Mr Trump, Facebook said, but it is the first time it has done so because it was spreading misinformation about the coronavirus. The company has also labelled his posts.

While some studies suggest that children are less likely to become infected with the coronavirus than adults and more likely to have only mild symptoms, scientific research has not proved this claim.

A US study involving 2,500 children published in April found that about one in five infected children were hospitalised versus one in three adults; three children died. The study by the Centres for Disease Control lacks complete data on all the cases, but it also suggests that many infected children have no symptoms, which could allow them to spread the virus to others.

UAE SQUAD

Omar Abdulrahman (Al Hilal), Ali Khaseif, Ali Mabkhout, Salem Rashed, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Zayed Al Ameri, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Khalid Essa, Ahmed Barman, Ryan Yaslam, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmin (Al Wasl), Adel Al Hosani, Ali Hassan Saleh, Majed Suroor (Sharjah), Ahmed Khalil, Walid Abbas, Majed Hassan, Ismail Al Hammadi (Shabab Al Ahli), Hassan Al Muharrami, Fahad Al Dhahani (Bani Yas), Mohammed Al Shaker (Ajman)

MATCH INFO

Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium (Malacca, Malayisa)
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD

* Second leg in Australia scheduled for October 10

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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Key facilities
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LA LIGA FIXTURES

Friday Celta Vigo v Villarreal (midnight kick-off UAE)

Saturday Sevilla v Real Sociedad (4pm), Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao (7.15pm), Granada v Barcelona (9.30pm), Osasuna v Real Madrid (midnight)

Sunday Levante v Eibar (4pm), Cadiz v Alaves (7.15pm), Elche v Getafe (9.30pm), Real Valladolid v Valencia (midnight)

Monday Huesca v Real Betis (midnight)

England Test squad

Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes.