Facebook faces new challenge with coronavirus protesters

Demonstrations against stay-at-home orders are presenting a new challenge for Facebook in its efforts to combat misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.

The social media giant is allowing the groups to operate Facebook event pages in some states, while taking down content in others. A spokesperson for the company told The Hill it is taking its cue from state governments on whether to remove pages and factoring in federal guidelines on social distancing.

In the past week, a string of small rallies — from dozens to hundreds of demonstrators — have popped up across the country to protest state orders to stay at home, close nonessential businesses and restrict travel in an effort to curb the coronavirus.

Many of those demonstrations, which have involved individuals violating social distancing guidelines, have been organized on Facebook.

But a company spokesperson said Facebook is doing its part by taking down event pages in states like California, Nebraska and New Jersey after consulting with governors about their stay-at-home orders.

“We reached out to state officials to understand the scope of their orders, not about removing specific protests on Facebook,” the spokesperson said. “We remove the posts when gatherings do not follow the health parameters established by the government and are therefore unlawful.”

Those page removals were slammed by conservative figures on Monday.

“Why is @Facebook colluding with state governments to quash peoples free speech?” Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, tweeted. “Regardless of what you think about the lockdowns or the protests against them, this is a chilling & disturbing government directed shutdown of peoples 1st Amendment rights. Very dangerous!”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), an outspoken critic of Silicon Valley, quote-tweeted news of the removals asking: “Because free speech is now illegal America?”

But Facebook has allowed many of the events and the groups behind them to stay up on the platform.

More than 100 state-specific Facebook groups have been created in the last two weeks to protest stay-at-home orders and organize at least 49 events, according to NBC News.

Pages for demonstrations against stay-at-home orders in Arizona, California, Georgia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were still up as of Monday afternoon. The events in California and New Jersey that were not taken down ask protesters to stay in their cars, which would not violate social distancing rules imposed in the states.

The events, where participants often rail against the recommendations of public health experts, come as Facebook attempts to rein in misinformation about the pandemic on the platform.

Last week, the company announced it would notify users who have interacted with misinformation and direct them to vetted sources on the disease. It has also worked to elevate authoritative information on the platform.

Protest event pages viewed by The Hill featured links at the top of the page to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on the coronavirus.

Many of the largest groups organizing the events are run by four brothers with a history of creating anti-gun control and anti-abortion groups, suggesting many of the demonstrations are not organic but rather driven by conservative activists, according to The Washington Post and NBC News.

The groups set up by Chris, Ben, Aaron and Matthew Dorr have reportedly amassed more than 200,000 members collectively, including in states where they don’t reside.

State governments have discouraged attendance at the rallies, saying the large group gatherings could risk spreading the disease and ultimately lengthen the shutdown measures being protested.

While President Trump has encouraged social distancing in daily press briefings, he has also lent support to the protests. Last week he posted a series of tweets calling to “liberate” Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia, all states where demonstrations were taking place.

The president also characterized restrictions in some states as being too draconian, and suggested protesters in Virginia were justified because of recent gun control measures signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam (D).

“Some governors have gone too far. Some of the things that happened are maybe not so appropriate,” Trump told reporters Sunday, initially refusing to name specific states before highlighting Virginia and Michigan. “I think, in the end, it’s not going to matter because we’re starting to open up our states. And I think they’re going to open up very well.”

His comments come on the heels of increasingly critical remarks about state leaders amid the ongoing pandemic and subsequent economic downturn which has put millions out of work.

Those governors, including Maryland’s Larry Hogan (R) and Washington’s Jay Inslee (D), have criticized Trump for his support of the protests.

“We’re sending completely conflicting messages out to the governors and to the people, as if we should ignore federal policy and federal recommendations,” Hogan said Sunday.

Public opinion polls also suggest broad opposition to the protests.

Sixty percent of respondents in a YouGov/Yahoo News survey conducted April 17-19 opposed the protesters, compared to 22 percent in favor. Even with Trump’s support for the protesters, Republicans opposed them 47 percent to 36 percent.