Facebook removed multiple videos by a coronavirus lockdown skeptics group based in the UK. The group, Save Our Rights UK, was told by the conservative MP, Sir Desmond Swayne, to persist in protesting lockdown measures.
The Facebook page for Save Our Rights UK had more than 60k followers. The group’s videos came under Facebook’s scrutiny after The Guardian identified what it says were “misleading” videos on the page and reported them to Facebook.
On Thursday, it also emerged that Swayne was a supporter of the group’s beliefs. In a November interview, the Tory MP claimed that the NHS exaggerated coronavirus figures.
Facebook removed the group’s videos claiming that they “violated our COVID-19 misinformation policies.”
“We remove Covid-19 misinformation that could lead to imminent physical harm, including false information about approved vaccines,” a Facebook spokesperson told The Guardian. The company said it had removed more than 12 million of such pieces of content between March and October 2020.
In a video, the group interviewed Karol Sikora, an oncologist who opposes lockdown measures and has written op-eds for The Sun, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, and the Daily Express. In the interview, Sikora said, “I’m a great proponent of what you are doing.”
Swayne has the backing of the group, with the group’s co-founder, Vincent Dunmall, saying, “It’s about time someone in the house stood up for the many people suffering.”
