Social media posts that promote prayer to combat Covid-19 should only be taken down if they “increase the risk” of catching the virus, Facebook has told its content moderators.

Internal training documents, reported by The Times, Ireland, state that posts about religious gatherings to cure the virus should be permitted once they take place online and not in person.

In a lengthy slide deck entitled Covid-19, misinformation and harm, moderators are given advice on what content should be taken down, and what can be left up on Facebook or Instagram.

The company sets out three tiers for its moderators to consider when reviewing content.

In the second tier it says that posts that make claims that partaking in a religious activity can cure Covid-19 if that activity calls for an action that “increases the risk of exposure of transmission of the virus” should be taken down.

However, it will not take down posts that call for prayers to help cure Covid-19 or a group zoom prayer meeting where similar statements are made.