Federal regulators have sent a warning letter to the website HoneyColony after it promoted its products as a way to “mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19 in people.” The action comes after Media Matters reported on the company, whose site and founder have also frequently pushed dangerous conspiracy theories. 

HoneyColony is a California-based company which describes itself as “an online magazine and eccommerce site that empowers you to be your own best health advocate.” Its Facebook page has over 100,000 followers, while its Instagram page has over 11,000 followers. 

On May 4, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission sent a letter to the company stating that they found that HoneyColony was selling products that “are intended to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19 in people. Based on our review, these products are unapproved new drugs sold in violation of section 505(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.” The letter then noted numerous claims on HoneyColony's website that “establish the intended use of your products and misleadingly represent them as safe and/or effective for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19.” 

Media Matters first documented HoneyColony’s dangerous medical misinformation on April 3 and noted that it has been trying to sell pricey colloidal silver products by falsely claiming that they can prevent the coronavirus. 

HoneyColony is led by writer and conspiracy theorist Maryam Henein. During the pandemic, she has spread coronavirus lies, including linking 5G to the coronavirus; claiming that the pandemic is “a smokescreen to instill more control, vaccine mandates, a globalist world”; and pushing the empty hospitals conspiracy theory. 

Her Twitter account currently includes numerous tweets promoting colloidal silver as a coronavirus preventative or cure. Twitter has claimed that “encouragement to use fake or ineffective treatments, preventions, and diagnostic techniques” violates its rules. 

HoneyColony’s Facebook page has also promoted its silver line as a coronavirus preventative by writing that “if you want a direct antiviral effect, both chelated silver and colloidal silver can target a wide range of viruses through several mechanisms.” That post also linked to a piece on its website which touted its silver products under the headline “The Best Coronavirus Treatment Is Prevention.” Facebook has claimed that its policy is to remove false coronavirus preventatives or cures. 

Separately, HoneyColony has repeatedly pushed dangerous anti-vaccination propaganda, including falsely linking vaccines to autism. (For more information about the safety of vaccines, visit the CDC’s website.) HoneyColony’s website features such headlines as “The 5 Most Harmful Ingredients in Vaccines”; “Influenza Season: 4 Reasons To Say ‘Screw You Flu Shots’”; and “How Vaccine Policy & Law Threatens Parental Rights In America.”

Media Matters has documented numerous media figures, outlets, and companies that have been peddling false coronavirus treatments, preventatives, and cures. Following Media Matters’ reporting, the FDA and FTC sent a warning letter to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, while a U.S. District Court issued a temporary restraining order against silver scammer Gordon Pedersen.