(Reuters) – Facebook Inc (FB.O) said on Monday that it has removed events in Nebraska, New Jersey and California promoting protests against stay-at-home measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the new coronavirus.
Demonstrators gather to protest against the state’s extended stay-at-home order to help slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 20, 2020. REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski
But the social media company, which has been under pressure to police harmful content and misinformation related to the pandemic, said it would only take down anti-quarantine protest events if they defied government guidelines.
Stay-at-home orders, which experts say are essential to slow the spread of the virus but which have battered the U.S. economy, have been enacted at the state level.
Facebook said it would align with those directives, and also remove events that defy social distancing guidelines. Facebook is seeking guidance to clarify the scope of state orders in New York, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“Unless government prohibits the event during this time, we allow it to be organized on Facebook,” s