Facebook to delete coronavirus misinformation
Facebook will not allow the spread of false information and conspiracy theories about the novel coronavirus. The online network will remove them, following the assessments of global health organizations, founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday.
In addition, he said, no advertising will be allowed that seeks to exploit the crisis - for example, by claiming that the products can cure the disease.
For Facebook, this action is an exception to its policy of not wanting to decide what is wrong and what is right. The online network had been criticized for its decision to leave even demonstrably false statements by politicians uncommented on the platform.
In the case of the coronavirus untruths, however, Facebook's rules prohibited putting people in danger, Zuckerberg explained.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) is getting as much free ad space on Facebook as it needs. And other organizations would also be supported with vouchers for advertising, among other things. Researchers would get access to anonymized and generalized Facebook data to better understand the spread of infections. (SDA)
