Facebook prevents sharing links to viral 'Plandemic' conspiracy sequel
When it comes to spreading coronavirus misinformation, even Facebook has a line.
The team behind the viral conspiracy video Plandemic was back at it again Tuesday, releasing a sequel to its first wildly popular — and wildly inaccurate — 26-minute fever dream that falsely claimed, among other things, that beach sand can help build an immunity to the coronavirus. As of Tuesday, however, if a Facebook user attempts to post a link to the website promoting the sequel, Facebook preemptively blocks the post.
"You can't share this link," reads the warning from Facebook. "Your post couldn't be shared, because this link goes against our Community Standards."
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We reached out to Facebook to determine how widespread this action is, and how many times it has blocked links to the Plandemic sequel, titled Plandemic — Indoctornation, and were told by a spokesperson the company would get back to us.
While Facebook prepares an official statement on the matter, people trying in vain to share the video have flooded the comments section on the Plandemic website.
"Can't share this on Facebook, they are blocking it," reads one typical post. "Supporting the theory this movie puts forward."
"OMG I can't even share the link on facebook as it says 'in violence with our rules'1," reads another.
"Copy and link and send it on messenger folks," instructs one commenter in an attempt to spread the video.
Meanwhile, over on Twitter, searching for the Plandemic — Indoctornation link brings up a "Know the facts" warning label, and a link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
We asked Twitter if it is actively removing posts sharing the Plandemic — Indoctornation link, and the company explained that the URL of the full video has been marked as "unsafe." If people try to share clips of the video in tweet form, the company will evaluate them on a case-by-case basis. According to a Twitter spokesperson, some people are sharing Plandemic — Indoctornation clips in order to debunk them, and as such the company is not automatically pulling them all down.
SEE ALSO: ISIS allegedly used Facebook in bid to scam people desperate for face masks
Clearly, both Facebook and Twitter have learned a few things since the initial Plandemic video went viral in early May. Hopefully it's enough to prevent a repeat of that mess.
UPDATE: Aug. 18, 2020, 3:06 p.m. PDT: Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone provided the following statement:
Given the previous Plandemic video violated our COVID misinformation policies, we blocked access to that domain from our services. This latest video contains COVID-19 claims that our fact-checking partners have repeatedly rated false so we have reduced its distribution and added a warning label showing their findings to anyone who sees it.
Topics Facebook Social Media X/Twitter COVID-19
