Groups that are helping to organize public protests against shelter-in-place orders will be banned from Facebook if they do not adhere to social-distancing guidelines, a company spokesperson told Vice. Protesters in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, among others, have been demanding state governors end stay-at-home orders that are aimed to mitigate the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The groups have been further emboldened by President Trump’s tweets urging citizens to “liberate” their states, with several organizing efforts reportedly tied to gun-rights advocates. “Unless the government prohibits the event during this time, we allow it to be organized on Facebook,” a Facebook spokesperson told Vice. “For this same reason, events that defy the government’s guidance on social distance aren’t allowed on Facebook.” Public-health officials continue to advise that social-distancing practices are crucial at this stage of the pandemic to control the spread of the virus, as deaths topped 41,000 across the U.S.
