Facebook is removing promotions for anti-quarantine protests that violate stay-home orders in California, New Jersey, and Nebraska

• Facebook announced on Monday that it is removing information on its site that promotes anti-lockdown protests in California, New Jersey, and Nebraska, CNN reported Monday.
• A spokesman for the company told CNN that it's in discussions with four other states — New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania — to determine whether planned protests violate the states' individual stay-home orders.
• Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said Monday that the platform is classifying anti-quarantine protests as "harmful misinformation."
• "More than normal political discourse, I think a lot of the stuff that people are saying that is false around a health emergency like this can be classified as harmful misinformation," Zuckerberg said.
• Almost 70% of Republicans and 95% of Democrats support the stay-home orders, which have successfully staunched the virus' spread across the country, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Facebook announced on Monday that it is removing information on its site that promotes anti-lockdown protests in California, New Jersey, and Nebraska, CNN reported Monday.

A spokesman for the company told CNN that it's in discussions with four other states — New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania — to determine whether protests planned there violate the states' individual stay-home orders.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Monday that the platform is classifying anti-quarantine protests as "harmful misinformation" and will "take that down."

"At the same time, it's important that people can debate policies, so there's a line on this," Zuckerberg told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. "But more than normal political discourse, I think a lot of the stuff that people are saying that is false around a health emergency like this can be classified as harmful misinformation."

The Washington Post reported Sunday that three right-wing, pro-gun activists are using Facebook to advertise and organize protests "against excessive quarantine" in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone told The Post that promotion for any event that violates the law will be removed.

"Unless government prohibits the event during this time, we allow it to be organized on Facebook," he said. "For this same reason, events that defy government's guidance on social distancing aren't allowed on Facebook."

Protests against statewide lockdown orders have cropped up across the country over the last week, most prominently in Michigan and Texas, where right-wing conspiracy theorists including Infowars' Alex Jones joined anti-vaccine advocates and Trump supporters in anti-government chants.

In Michigan last Wednesday, anti-lockdown protesters caused a traffic jam and gathered by foot on the steps of the state Capitol building in Lansing. Many of the protesters were heavily armed and violated the state's strict stay home order and social distancing guidelines.

The president has encouraged the protests and last week tweeted a call to "LIBERATE" Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia — all of which have seen recent protests.

"If people feel that way, you're allowed to protest," Trump told reporters on Sunday. "Some governors have gone too far, some of the things that happened are maybe not so appropriate."

But extensive media coverage of the protests and the president's support for the actions hide the fact that the vast majority of Americans across the ideological spectrum support the stay-home orders.

Almost 70% of Republicans and 95% of Democrats support the orders, which have successfully staunched the virus' spread across the country, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.