Brazilian President Bolsonaro's son suspended from Twitch after coronavirus denial: 'What pandemic? This is a media invention'
- One son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was banned from live-streaming platform Twitch after he spread coronavirus misinformation, according to The Brazilian Report.
- During a streaming session on May 1 while playing "League of Legends," Jair Renan Bolsonaro called the coronavirus "just a little flu." A Twitch spokesperson told Insider on Monday that the ban was temporary.
- Misinformation has run rampant online during the pandemic, and social media platforms have struggled to tamp down users' false posts.
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The fourth son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been banned from the platform for spreading coronavirus misinformation.
During a recent streaming session while playing "League of Legends," Jair Renan Bolsonaro, a popular video game streamer on Twitch, said the coronavirus was "just a little flu," according to The Brazilian Report, an English-language news website based in Brazil. "Go to the streets, o.k.? What pandemic? This is a media invention to lock you inside your home, so you'll think the world is crumbling," he reportedly said.
The live-stream took place on May 1, according to The Daily Dot. Bolsonaro announced his removal from Twitch in a tweet later that day.
"I was banned from Twitch forever. It is interesting that the social network maintains profiles that clearly disseminate misandry (hatred, contempt or prejudice against men or boys), but do not support a joke, no matter how heavy," the Portuguese tweet said, according to Google's automated translation on Twitter.
A Twitch spokesperson told Insider on Monday that the ban was only temporary, though they did not specify how long it would last. As of May 4, the Twitch account remains unavailable.
"In line with our policies on hateful conduct, Renan Bolsonaro has been issued a temporary ban from Twitch for comments made on stream, and the offending content has been removed," the Twitch spokesperson said in an email.
Bolsonaro's father, the president of Brazil, has continuously spread false information about COVID-19. Both Facebook and Twitter previously removed a video recommending that people try an unproven treatment for the virus.
Misinformation has run rampant online during the pandemic, and social media platforms have struggled to tamp down users' false posts. A report from the Reuters Institute at Oxford University published in April found that the majority of online engagement with coronavirus misinformation has been with posts from influencers, politicians, and celebrities.
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