SHANNON woman Aisling O’Loughlin has had her Instagram account removed, after repeatedly posting what has been described as “harmful misinformation” regarding Covid-19.
In a statement, Facebook, which owns Instagram, said, “Aisling O’Loughlin’s Instagram account has been removed from our platform for repeatedly sharing harmful misinformation and fact-checked hoaxes related to Covid-19 and the vaccines. We are taking aggressive steps to fight harmful misinformation about Covid-19 and approved vaccines and remove violating content that is brought to our attention. During the pandemic, we removed 16 million pieces of this type of content and work with 80 fact-checking organisations, including TheJournal.ie, to debunk and add warning labels to other false claims. We are also running an online vaccine information campaign by labelling every post regarding the vaccines with the latest accurate information and directing people across our platforms to the HSE website.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.