The COVID-19 public health emergency may have ended, but false claims surrounding COVID-19 vaccines persist.
A May 9 Instagram post that misspells censored said, "We were sensored and called conspiracy theories. Now, here we go!"
Underneath was a video of a person identified as Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, who said, "Pfizer has agreed to pay $2.3 billion, the largest health care fraud settlement in the Department of Justice. Within that $2.3 billion is a criminal fine of $1.195 billion which makes it the largest criminal fine in history." Above him are the words, "Medical fraud. $2.3 billion." Words across the video read, "$1.195 billion Pfizer."
The video says "today" on the screen’s top right corner.
Another Instagram post that shared the same video had a caption that said, "Y’all still happy with your choices? That’s a pretty steep price to pay in criminal charges if it’s so ‘legit’ and ‘effective.’"
The posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)