Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Facebook has prided itself on thorough moderation and removal of COVID-19 misinformation posted to its social network since March, but the company is now under fire for having failed to take action for several hours against a fast-moving viral Breitbart News video promoting dangerous coronavirus conspiracy theories and treatments over the weekend.
The company now says removal of the video “took longer than expected,” in a statement given to The Verge, and the company is going to investigate why. Before Facebook took action, the video — featuring non-experts refusing to wear masks while touting unverified virus cures — had been widely shared tens of millions of times, including by President Donald ***** and his son on Twitter. After it…