Facebook Ramps Up Effort to Curb COVID-19 Vaccine Hoaxes

Facebook’s move includes banning groups that repeatedly spread misinformation and debunked claims about the virus and vaccines in general.

By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 9 February 2021 10:26 IST

Facebook Ramps Up Effort to Curb COVID-19 Vaccine Hoaxes

Facebook said that it's gotten more than 50 million responses to a COVID-19 survey it launched last year

Highlights

Facebook has been highlighting health advice from reliable agencies
Barred misinformation included claims COVID-19 was created by people
It also included false claims that vaccines are toxic or cause autism

Facebook on Monday said it is ramping up efforts to stem the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, spread facts, and figure out who might be wary of getting the jab.

The move includes banning groups which repeatedly spread misinformation and debunked claims about the virus and vaccines in general.

The leading social network has been highlighting health advice from reliable agencies and removing COVID-19 misinformation for months and on Monday expanded that initiative.

Aadhaar Not Mandatory for Registration on Co-Win Portal, Says Government

A list of debunked claims about the virus or vaccines that are not welcomed at Facebook was updated with the help of the World Health Organization.

The list of barred misinformation included claims COVID-19 was created by people or that it is safer to get the virus than the vaccine.

It also included false claims that vaccines are toxic or cause autism.

Facebook to Use AI in Predicting if COVID-19 Patients Need Better Healthcare

Critics of the social media giant's handling of misinformation were not convinced by its latest move.

"Facebook has been promising to crack down on COVID and anti-vaxx misinformation for the past year," the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate said in a message fired off on Twitter.

"Every time, it fails to meet these headline announcements with action."

Groups or accounts that share vaccine misinformation may be removed completely from the social network, warned Facebook vice president of integrity Guy Rosen.

Facebook prominently hosts a COVID-19 information centre, and makes a priority of featuring reliable sources in results for queries on the topic.

People in charge of groups at the social network were told to require posts of members prone to spreading bogus information about vaccines or the pandemic to be approved before being shared.

At Facebook-owned Instagram, accounts of people discouraging vaccinations will be harder to find using automated search tools, according to the social network.

Facebook said that it has gotten more than 50 million responses to a COVID-19 survey it launched last year in a collaboration with two US universities.

It was designed to gather insights from people about COVID-19 symptoms, mask wearing, and access to care.

"The survey programme is one of the largest ever conducted and has helped health researchers better monitor and forecast the spread of COVID-19," Facebook said.

"The survey data will provide a better understanding of trends in vaccine intent across sociodemographics, race, geography and more."

Survey findings about vaccine attitudes will be shared globally, according to the social network.

Can Realme X7 Pro take on OnePlus Nord? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.