Social media giant Facebook shut down the page of a fringe, conspiracy-embracing New Zealand political party on Thursday, just days before the country's general election.

A Facebook spokesperson explained to the AFP news agency that "we don't allow anyone to share misinformation on our platforms about Covid-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm."

The decision followed "repeated violations" by the Advance New Zealand political party.

Co-leader, Billy Te Kahika, responded to the removal by accusing Facebook of meddling in the elections, saying "this is a cynical example of election interference by an American-owned social media outlet that has no business performing any such operation in our sovereign nation."

Success on social media, but not in elections

The loss of social media presence is unlikely to have a big impact on the fringe party in the upcoming elections. According to recent polls, Advance New Zealand is set to receive around 1% of the vote.

The leading Labour Party under Jacinda Ardern is seeking reelection on October 17 and is expected to win on the back of the government's relative success in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.

Te Kahika garnered social media attention for his claims that COVID-19 was fake and was invented in order to enslave people. His social media posts drew interest beyond New Zealand's five million inhabitants. 

Read more: A COVID-19 Survivor Versus Corona Skeptics

Between late June and early October, the Facebook page for Advance New Zealand was visited 5.3 million times, more than the 5.2 for Ardern's leading Labour Party or the 2.8 for the main opposition National Party.

New Zealand's Advertising Standards Authority also ordered the party to withdraw fliers making false claims including that the government was using the military to enter private residences and that it was planning forced vaccinations. 

Taking a stand against conspiracies and hate speech

The social media company's decision follows a recent spate of actions against accounts which break the platforms rules, such as pushing misleading political claims, fake accounts with partisan agendas and hate speech such as Holocaust denial.

The platform recently kicked off a member of the Hindu nationalist BJP party for hate speech and earlier on Thursday blocked access to a New York Post article about alleged corrupt dealings of Joe Biden's son, due to its questionable sources.

ab/rc (AFP, Reuters)