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Facebook Says Louis Farrakhan’s Anti-Vaccine Screed Violated Policy Against Misinformation, Twitter Stays Silent

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Facebook removed a post on the Nation of Islam’s page that violated the company’s policies against misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine, the company said Friday.

The post linked to video of a Nation of Islam (NOI) event held last weekend in which the group’s leader, Louis Farrakhan, called the coronavirus vaccine a “vial of death.” Other speakers at the event falsely claimed that the vaccine has caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of serious injuries.

The Daily Caller News Foundation reported Wednesday that Farrakhan and other NOI members spread false information about the vaccine at the extremist group’s annual Saviours’ Day event.

The extremist group held a three-hour session Feb. 27 entitled “Covid-19: The Virus and the Vaccine.” Video of the symposium was posted on NOI’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

While Facebook removed posts linking to the event after multiple inquiries from the DCNF, the content remains on NOI’s Twitter page.

Facebook announced on Feb. 8 that it would remove posts claiming that vaccines are not effective against preventing the virus, that vaccines are less safe than contracting coronavirus, or that “vaccines are toxic, dangerous or cause autism.”

“It is death itself, created by what you call ‘Warp Speed,'” Farrakhan said at the NOI event, referring to Operation Warp Speed, the government project to develop the coronavirus vaccines.

Twitter announced a vaccine misinformation policy on Monday.

The company said it will flag content that claims COVID-19 vaccines are “part of a deliberate or intentional attempt to cause harm or control populations.”

On Friday, a Facebook spokesperson told the DCNF that a post on NOI’s page linked to the Saviours’ Day event was found to have violated its community standards.

A spokesman for Twitter responded to an email inquiry on Wednesday, saying that the company was working on a response. The spokesman has not responded to multiple follow up inquiries.

To view the entire “COVID-19: The Virus & The Vaccine” plenary session replay, click herehttps://t.co/cCxNCosS5W#SD2021 #Farrakhan #COVID19Vaccine pic.twitter.com/8KG8De6lsM

— The Nation of Islam (@OfficialNOI) March 1, 2021

Ava Muhammad, an NOI spokeswoman, falsely claimed at the symposium that 929 Americans have died and another 3,126 have suffered serious injuries after receiving the vaccines.

Muhammad and other speakers also pushed the widely disputed theory that vaccines are linked to autism in children.

Farrakhan echoed Muhammad’s remarks in his closing speech at the NOI event, asserting that the U.S. government is using vaccines for population control.

“By rushing so fast to get something out, bypassing normal steps in a true vaccine, now God is going to turn your vaccine into death in a hurry,” Farrakhan said at the end of a session held Feb. 27.

Farrakhan, who has a long history of making anti-semitic and anti-white remarks, also called the vaccine a “vial of death” during a diatribe about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top expert on infectious diseases.

Last year, Farrakhan claimed at an NOI event that Fauci and Microsoft founder Bill Gates were pushing vaccines as part of a plot to “depopulate the Earth.”

Facebook banned Farrakhan in May 2019 along with a group of right-wing personalities, saying that they had promoted “violence and hate.” Twitter has not banned Farrakhan from its platform.