Coronavirus has grabbed the attention of WHO as a global public health emergency. The number of people infected by Coronavirus and the spread of misinformation on social media has proportionately increased by time.
The blowout of false information has led various social media platforms to address the issue. Facebook, being the most used social media app across the world, has taken major steps to restrict the spread of invalid information. Facebook has set up its global network of third-party fact-checkers to review and verify the accuracy of the information posted online.
When the information is marked false, Facebook limits the distribution of that material and notify about its actuality to people who already shared and are trying to share it. Facebook focuses on discouraging the false claims on treatment and prevention from coronavirus.
Facebook’s head of health Kang-Xing Jin said: “As the global public health community works to keep people safe, Facebook is supporting their work in several ways, most especially by working to limit the spread of misinformation and harmful content about the virus and connecting people to helpful information.”
Facebook is aiming to provide helpful information to its user by continuously coordinating with leading health organisations. Along with that Facebook said: “We are empowering researchers at Harvard University’s School of Public Health and National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan by sharing collected and anonymized mobility data and high-resolution population density maps to help inform their forecasting models for the spread of the virus as part of our broader Data for Good program. “
Instagram, owned by Facebook, will limit or block the hashtags used to spread false information about coronavirus. Instagram will also remove false pre-existing content. Facebook and Instagram have allowed health organisations to run educational campaigns to spread awareness about coronavirus.
Apart from Facebook and Instagram, Twitter is similarly encouraging users to view the official channels of WHO and Centres for Disease Control for information on coronavirus.
Tiktok, a social media app created to make short videos also tackles the issue of false claims and warns users to verify the claims using global health organisation.
