The elected board member of a Texas hospital has been banned from his LinkedIn account after sharing multiple posts relating to COVID-19, The Texan reported Feb. 10.
Wallace Dunn serves Medical Center Hospital, a 402-bed regional hospital in Odessa, Texas, and frequently uses his account to represent the hospital.
Two of Mr. Dunn’s posts about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine were deemed “misleading or inaccurate” by the platform, leading to bans of four and six weeks. He was banned for another post regarding early home-based treatment options for the virus, which linked back to a publication from the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons. Now, he is locked out of his account permanently, but does not know which post triggered the ban and says the platform will not tell him.
“I have many constituents who follow me [on LinkedIn] and this ban hinders my ability to communicate with them,” Mr. Dunn told the newspaper.
The bans have rebooted conversations surrounding HB20, a Texas law prohibiting social media platforms from censoring users’ posts. The law is currently on hold while it is reviewed by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
