Rep. Adam Schiff shared some strong words with Twitter Inc. and Google LLC-owned YouTube today, telling the companies that they aren’t doing enough to crack down on COVID-19 misinformation and should follow the example of Facebook Inc.

“Though the best protection is removing or downgrading harmful content before users engage with it, that is not always possible,” Rep. Schiff (D-California) wrote to the companies’ chief executives. “Facebook recently announced plans to display messages to any users who have engaged with harmful coronavirus-related misinformation that has since been removed from the platform and connect them with resources from the World Health Organization. I urge you to adopt a similar practice for users and others who engage with harmful information on your platform.”

He’s referring to the move Facebook made in mid-April, which involved showing messages to people not only on who shared misinformation, but to people who liked or commented on such information. Facebook also announced that it had updated its “COVID-19 Information Center.”

Schiff wrote that despite some efforts being made by both platforms, misinformation continued to flow. He said that on YouTube it’s still possible to find videos talking about dangerous treatments such as drinking bleach, or conspiracy theories relating to COVID-19 and 5G technology.

Almost the exact same letter was sent to Twitter, although when writing to Chief Executive Jack Dorsey, Schiff applauded Twitter for proactively notifying users in 2018 who had interacted with information coming from the Russian troll farm, the Internet Research Agency.

“As we all grapple with this unprecedented health situation, I hope you will consider this suggestion for keeping users better informed,” he said to both companies.

In a statement to the media, YouTube said it had already removed thousands of posts that violate its COVID-19 misinformation policies. The company said it has “seen over 20 billion impressions on our information panels for COVID-19 related videos and searches.” Twitter has yet to make a public statement regarding the letter.

Both companies are faced with a difficult task, given the ever-changing information coming from the scientific community and from healthcare workers. YouTube was accused of censorship recently after taking down two doctors in California criticized the shutdown and what they thought was an overreaction to the disease.

Meanwhile, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have come under fire for not removing content regarding words spoken by President Donald Trump. Last week, Trump talked about the possibility of disinfectants and ultraviolet light being a cure for the virus.

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