Madonna’s Instagram post flagged, then removed for spreading coronavirus misinformation

Instagram first flagged and then removed a post from Madonna after the pop star shared a viral video featuring doctors making false and misleading claims about the coronavirus.

The singer’s Tuesday post was initially blurred out with a warning that labeled it “False Information” by independent fact-checkers, The Guardian reported. It was later ultimately removed by the platform.

“We’ve removed this video for making false claims about cures and prevention methods for COVID-19,” Raki Wane, Instagram’s policy communications manager, said in a statement. “People who reacted to, commented on, or shared this video, will see messages directing them to authoritative information about the virus.”

Madonna reportedly shared to her 15 million followers a clip of a viral video featuring doctors from a group called America’s Frontline Doctors making false and misleading claims about the coronavirus outside the Supreme Court building.

The video showed Stella Immanuel arguing that “you don’t need masks” to prevent the spread of COVID-19. She also claims that studies showing that hydroxychloroquine is not effective for treating the disease are “fake science” and sponsored by “fake pharma companies.”  

The Houston doctor has previously made other unfounded claims about medical conditions, sexual contact with spirits, the U.S. government, children’s television shows and more. 

Madonna reportedly captioned the video with the false claim that a COVID-19 cure has “been found and proven and has been available for months”

“They would rather let fear control the people and let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” she wrote, according to The Guardian. 

Instagram initially blurred the video and captioned it: “False Information.” Users were directed to a page debunking the claims in the video.

Social media platforms including Instagram’s parent company Facebook, as well as Twitter and YouTube, ultimately scrubbed the video from their sites this week. 

President Trump, who has repeatedly touted hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 cure, shared versions of the video on Twitter Monday night. His tweets were later removed from the social media site, as was a version of the video shared by Donald Trump Jr.

Twitter also temporarily limited Trump Jr.’s account, blocking his ability to tweet or retweet for 12 hours.

A Twitter spokesperson told The Hill that tweets with the video “are in violation of our COVID-19 misinformation policy.”

The video went viral on Facebook Monday night, garnering 14 million views before it was removed. It was shared nearly 600,000 times, CNN reported.

“We’ve removed this video for sharing false information about cures and treatments for COVID-19,” Facebook policy communications director Andy Stone said in a statement to The Hill.

The video was also viewed on YouTube more than 40,000 times before the site removed it.

The pop queen announced in May that she had tested positive for coronavirus antibodies. The singer also donated $1 million to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support efforts to fund a drug “that will prevent or treat COVID-19,” the Independent reported.