Still dealing with the aftermath of banning Donald Trump, Facebook this week deleted a post from and temporarily blocked a chatbot operated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Like Trump and a growing number of politicians and national leaders, Netanyahu makes heavy use of social media to speak directly to the people.
But on Monday, Facebook said the Israeli leader overstepped its privacy policy when he asked followers to identify fellow Israelis over the age of 60 who had not yet been inoculated against COVID-19.
Netanyahu’s post and the chatbot were both caught essentially urging Israelis to “snitch” on the unvaccinated.
“In accordance with our privacy policy, we don’t allow content that shares or asks for people’s medical information,” said Facebook in a statement regarding the action against Netanyahu.
The Prime Minister’s Office responded that the intention was to “encourage Israelis over the age of 60 to get vaccinated in order to save their lives after Prime Minister Netanyahu brought vaccines to every Israeli citizen. We call on everyone to get vaccinated so that we can open up the economy and be the first in the world to emerge from the coronavirus.”