European Parliament

29/08/2024 | Press release | Archived content

Misinformation about COVID-19: what instructions did the Commission give to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter during the pandemic

Misinformation about COVID-19: what instructions did the Commission give to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter during the pandemic?

29.8.2024

Question for written answer E-001569/2024
to the Commission
Rule 144
Virginie Joron (PfE)

Scientific opinions on hydroxychloroquine varied widely:

The Lancet announced on 4 June 2020 the retraction of a study published on 22 May 2020 which claimed that hydroxychloroquine, whether or not associated with azithromycin, increased mortality and heart arrhythmia in patients hospitalised with COVID-19. In France that study had led to the removal of an exemption allowing the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, as well as the suspension of clinical trials to test its effectiveness[1].

On 30 October 2023, Professor Didier Raoult and other authors published retrospective results of a hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin protocol tested on 30 202 patients; the results were extremely positive, with mortality reduced by half or more[2].

On 26 August 2024, the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy decided to retract a study published on 2 January 2024[3] linking the deaths of at least 17 000 people during the COVID-19 pandemic to the administration of hydroxychloroquine during the first wave of the pandemic, from March to July 2020[4].

On 26 August 2024, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta/Facebook, confirmed that the US Government had pressured the company in 2021 to remove COVID-19 content[5].

Did the Commission give instructions in 2020-2022 to Facebook, YouTube or Twitter to remove or hide content concerning specific scientific products or publications?

Submitted: 29.8.2024

  • [1] https://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2020/06/04/hydroxychloroquine-trois-auteurs-de-l-etude-du-lancet-se-retractent_6041803_1650684.html
  • [2] 'Among 30,202 patients for whom information on treatment was available, 191/23,172 (0.82%) patients treated with HCQ-AZ died, compared to 344/7030 (4.89%) who did not receive treatment with HCQ-AZ', New Microbes and New Infections 55 (2023) 101188, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2052297523001075.
  • [3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S075333222301853X
  • [4] https://www.rts.ch/info/sciences-tech/2024/article/retractation-d-une-etude-sur-le-lien-entre-hydroxychloroquine-et-mortalite-28609042.html
  • [5] https://x.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1828201780544504064