A war of ideas…
Former My Kitchen Rules judge Pete Evans has responded to Facebook after his page was banned, specifically for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccine. The move came after a slew of COVID-19 related posts from the celeb chef that Facebook reportedly found ‘concerning,’ which ultimately led to him being banned from the site.
Now, Evans has responded, taking to Instagram to write “Watching what happens with Section 230 and how the tech companies deal with this in the future will be interesting. As they say ‘Let’s see what happens’. In the meantime…stay healthy, sovereign, strong yet kind and in your heart. If it resonates, you can find some amazing meal plans, recipes and UNCENSORED content.”
If you’re not familiar with Section 230 (I sure as shit wasn’t) it’s basically a piece of anti-censorship legislation from the US that’s part of the Communications Decency Act, which ‘generally provides immunity for website publishers from third-party content’. Thus, Evans is inferring that Facebook doesn’t actually have to take the content he posts down, since they aren’t responsible for misinformation. However, we doubt Facebook is gonna take his advice on board, the service going super hard to remove any COVID-19 misinformation it sees almost immediately.
Speaking on Evans’ banning, a Facebook rep said “We don’t allow anyone to share misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm or COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts.
“We have clear policies against this type of content and we’ve removed Chef Pete Evans’ Facebook Page for repeated violations of these policies.”
It seems most people don’t really care about the banning, especially with the Sydney Northern Beaches cluster continuing to increase, which Evans’ originally urged people to not get tested for. Specifically, he wrote online (in response to people standing in line waiting to get tested) “OUTBREAK … 2 cases. Can you see where this is heading again. Testing for the common cold? Do not get tested.”
His whole Facebook page has been deleted now due to similar posts, but it appears his IG hasn’t been, with Facebook stating that ‘the violating posts and content were not always shared on the corresponding Instagram account’.
Pretty crazy stuff, check out his full response below.
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