Is Google censoring even documents now?
It seems like a lifetime away now, as the world struggles to get the spread of coronavirus under control – but on March 13, James Todaro, who holds medical degree from Columbia University, posted about some potentially promising research on Twitter.
There is growing evidence of Chloroquine as a highly effective treatment for COVID-19. In a collaborative effort, @RiganoESQ (Johns Hopkins), Thomas Broker, PhD (Stanford) & I explore Chloroquine as a treatment/prophylactic to treat & prevent coronavirus. https://t.co/gCgJDxhAjV
— James Todaro, MD (@JamesTodaroMD) March 13, 2020
Todaro linked to a Google Doc file and said there was “growing evidence of chloroquine as a highly effective treatment for COVID-19.”
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the virus, for which there has been no effective prevention or treatment to date, while chloroquine is a component in prescription drugs used to treat malaria and rheumatoid arthritis, among other conditions.
The research Todaro referred to was authored by him and two colleagues – Gregory Rigano of Johns Hopkins, and Thomas Broker of Stanford University.
Nevertheless, Google managed to block access to the linked Google Docs file for violating the giant’s terms of service, as well as its anti-abuse program and enforcement.
Journalist Celine D. Ryan tweeted about this on Wednesday saying that her father previously shared a white paper on hydroxychloroquine (a chloroquine analog) with her, but that the link was now dead.
Over a month ago my dad shared a white paper on hydroxychloroquine with me. It was in a google doc. Went to look at it today and it was blocked because it “violates google’s terms of service.”
Have you ever seen that happen with a google doc before? Can you “report” a gdoc?
— Celine D. Ryan (@celinedryan) March 25, 2020