Instagram hid a publication from the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, with a fake news alert. Shared on Monday night (11), the post contained false information about the number of deaths by covid-19 in Ceará.
Originally made by state deputy André Fernandes (PSL-CE), the post stated that, despite the pandemic, Ceará recorded a lower number of deaths from respiratory diseases in 2020 compared to last year.
The president shared the publication with the message “Every life matters! However, there is something very ‘strange’ in the air! ”, Followed by an image that pointed to the number of deaths in the northeastern state in 2019 and 2020 between the period of March 16 to May 10. “2019 without Covid: 6,377; 2020 with Covid: 6,296 ”. Then, the post asked “Why in 2019 didn’t you have the same fanfare?”.
An independent agency warned Instagram that it was fake news. According to Agência Lupa, the figures released were inaccurate, since they included deaths from other diseases, such as cancer and AIDS.
The agency also pointed out that the Civil Registry Transparency Portal, used as a source in the post shared by the president, indicates that deaths from respiratory diseases in Ceará reached 2,808 last year and 3,217 in 2020 during the aforementioned period.
It is not the first time that the President of the Republic’s publications have been removed from social networks for violating rules. In March, Twitter deleted two posts from Jair Bolsonaro for disrespecting the recommendations on social distance. Shortly thereafter, Instagram and Facebook removed other Bolsonaro posts that contained the same content.
