America's Frontline Doctors Coronavirus Press Conference
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Overview
America's Frontline Doctors Coronavirus Press Conference refers to an event held by the America's Frontline Doctors organization during which several controversial statements were made regarding the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat the virus and wearing masks to prevent its spread. After video of the event was widely circulated on Facebook in late July 2020, titled "American Doctors Address COVID-19 Misinformation with SCOTUS," many social media platforms banned that video as misinformation. The antimalarial medication hydroxychloroquine was previously removed as an emergency treatment for COVID-19 by the US Food and Drug Administration, who stated that it had not been proven to be an effective treatment for the virus.
Background
On July 27th, 2020, Breitbart posted a video on Facebook in which Republican Senator Ralph Norman and the group America's Frontline Doctors held a press conference discussing the pandemic.
That day, New York Times reporter Kevin Roose tweeted that the "#2 most-engaged post on Facebook" that day was "a Breitbart video of a group of doctors claiming that hydroxychloroquine is 'a cure for Covid' and 'you don't need a mask'" (shown below). Within 24 hours, the tweet gained over 18,000 likes and 7,800 retweets.
That day, the video was removed from Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. According to Breitbart,[1] Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone revealed that the video was removed "for sharing false information about cures and treatments for COVID-19."
Developments
The Daily Beast's "Demon Sperm" Article
On July 28th, 2020, The Daily Beast published an article titled "Trump's New Favorite COVID Doctor Believes in Alien DNA, Demon Sperm, and Hydrochloroquine." The article reports that Stella Immanuel, a doctor featured in the press conference video, made claims that "alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments" and that gynecological health issues were "caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches." That day, the keywords "Demon Sperm" and "Alien DNA" began trending on Twitter.[2][3]
Donald Trump Jr. Twitter Restriction
On July 28th, 2020, Donald Trump Jr.'s Twitter account was restricted for 12 hours after tweeting a video promoting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus. That day, the BBC published a statement from Donald Trump Jr. spokesperson Andy Surabian:
"Twitter suspending Don Jr for sharing a viral video of medical professionals discussing their views on Hydroxychloroquine is further proof that big tech is intent on killing free expression online, and is another instance of them committing election interference to stifle Republican voices."
Meanwhile, the New York Post published[4] a statement from Twitter about the disciplinary action, in which they claimed it was not a "suspension":
"We did not suspend the account. The screenshot shared directly says that Twitter required the Tweet to be deleted because it violated our rules, and that we would limit some account functionality for 12 hours."
Online Reaction
Also on July 28th, 2020, Redditor Schmange89 submitted a post titled "What’s up with the viral video of 'American Doctors Address COVID-19 Misinformation with SCOTUS'" to /r/OutOfTheLoop.[5]
Top Comments
Nedhitis
Jul 28, 2020 at 05:53PM EDT
poochyena
Jul 28, 2020 at 01:03PM EDT