Home News Facebook to limit spread of COVID-19 misinformation via notification

Facebook to limit spread of COVID-19 misinformation via notification

by Yvonne Ng
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Facebook, COVID-19, misinformation, notification

Along with many other social media platforms, Facebook has been trying to reduce the sharing of COVID-19 misinformation. Today, the company began to notify those who share inaccurate information. 

Facebook will send notification to those who shared false COVID-19 posts

Back in April, Facebook started fact-checking COVID-19-related articles to ensure that its users aren’t sharing inaccurate information; articles and posts with false information are labelled with false content to reduce the number of users from clicking said posts. Facebook also added a “Get the Facts” section in its COVID-19 Information Centre so users can access the right information, but now the company will take an extra step to send notification to those who shared wrong information regarding COVID-19.

Inaccurate posts will be removed immediately

If you’ve shared an inaccurate post/article regarding COVID-19, Facebook will automatically remove the post before sending you a notification regarding the post removal. You’ll also get to see the details of the post, what interactions you’ve had with it and why it’s removed. According to the Facebook blog, you can then choose to see COVID-19 facts or leave and/or unfollow the Page or Group that posted the inaccurate content.

Is the largest social media platform doing enough?

Despite Facebook’s effort in combating COVID-19 misinformation, some still believe that it’s not enough. It took the social media platform almost a full year to execute this new measure, but it still comes with some limitations. Although inaccurate information will be removed, you won’t know what’s the exact information that is inaccurate and what’s the correct facts.

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