Facebook announced Thursday that its many users will see tailor-made warnings highlighting facts about the coronavirus pandemic, after being accused of failing to counter the spread of outlandish conspiracy theories.
The leading social media platform has already been publishing fact-checking articles about the global outbreak through its partnerships with media organisations, including one with Agence France-Presse.
“We will also soon begin showing messages in News Feed to people who previously engaged with harmful misinformation related to COVID-19 that we’ve since removed, connecting them with accurate information,” chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
The messages will pop up in the relevant language for users who have previously clicked on or shared virus disinformation, and point them to authoritative sources like the World Health Organisation.
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The new service goes beyond warnings that Facebook says it slapped on about 40 million posts related to the virus in March alone, following reviews of the posts by independent fact-checkers such as AFP.
“When people saw those warning labels, 95 percent of the time they did not go on to view the original content,” Zuckerberg said.
Another new programme called Get The Facts will highlight coronavirus articles on Facebook written by fact-checking partners.
Among recent articles by AFP’s Fact Check service, one countered the idea that garlic is an effective treatment against COVID-19. Another refuted theories that the virus is somehow rooted in 5G telecommunications.
Facebook said that on its main platform and on Instagram, more than 350 million of its two billion users had now clicked through to a dedicated coronavirus information centre since its launch last month.
The company has also limited the number of times users can forward messages on its WhatsApp calling and texting service, to curb disinformation.
(AFP)
