Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Facebook to Warn Users Who "Liked" Coronavirus Hoaxes
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
April 16, 2020

Share

NEW YORK — Have you liked or commented on a Facebook post about the COVID-19 pandemic?

Facebook is about to begin letting you know if you’ve spread bad information.

Facebook users, for example, viewed a false claim that the virus is destroyed by chlorine dioxide nearly 200,000 times, estimates a new study out today from Avaaz, a left-leaning advocacy group that tracks and researches online misinformation.

The company will soon be letting users know if they liked, reacted to, or commented on posts with harmful misinformation about the virus that was removed by moderators, by directing those who engaged with those posts to information about virus myths debunked by the World Health Organization.

Social media is awash in bad takes about the outbreak and platforms have begun to combat that misinformation.

Facebook said Thursday that people will begin seeing warning messages in coming weeks.

Facebook and other platforms have already taken steps to curb the wave of dangerous misinformation that has spread along with the coronavirus.

Facebook has banned bogus ads promising coronavirus treatments or cures. No such thing exists. There is no vaccine, though there is a global race to develop one.

The tech giant is altering its algorithms and, through an information page, attempting to put before users facts about the virus from global health organizations, as well as state and local health departments.

That hasn’t stopped the spread of bad information.

Conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus and the vaccines being developed to prevent it still pop up daily. Posts or videos that promote unverified treatments and cures have raked in thousands of a views.

Facebook users, for example, viewed a false claim that the virus is destroyed by chlorine dioxide nearly 200,000 times, estimates a new study out today from Avaaz, a left-leaning advocacy group that tracks and researches online misinformation.

Fake Information on Social Media Has Been Deadly

The group found more than 100 pieces of misinformation about the coronavirus on Facebook, viewed millions of times even after the claims had been marked as false or misleading by fact checkers. Other false claims were not labeled as misinformation, despite being declared by fact-checkers as false. Facebook partners with news organizations around the world to provide fact checks of misleading content on its site. The Associated Press is part of that fact-checking program.

“Coronavirus misinformation content mutates and spreads faster than Facebook’s current system can track it,” Avaaz said in its report.

Fake information on social media has been deadly. Last month, Iranian media reported more than 300 people had died and 1,000 were sickened in the country after ingesting methanol, a toxic alcohol rumored to be a remedy on social media. An Arizona man also died after taking chloroquine phosphate — a product that some mistake for the anti-malaria drug chloroquine, which President Donald Trump and conservative pundits have touted as a treatment for COVID-19. Health officials have warned the drug hasn’t been proven safe or effective as a virus therapy.

The side effects of chloroquine can be dangerous.

Facebook partners with dozens of news organizations around the globe to provide fact checks of misleading content on its site. The Associated Press is part of the fact-checking program. Facebook users already see a warning label over articles, posts or videos in their feed that those fact checkers have marked as false or misleading. On Thursday the company announced that it put warning labels on 40 million coronavirus-related posts in March alone thanks to the roughly 4,000 articles those fact checkers produced. The warning labels stop about 95% of users from viewing the misinformation.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

DON'T MISS

Valley PBS’ Top 2 Executives Departing. Were Their Resignations a Surprise?

DON'T MISS

Unfiltered Clip: Insights from Dr. Trita Parsi on Navigating the Israel-Palestine Conflict

DON'T MISS

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

DON'T MISS

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

DON'T MISS

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

DON'T MISS

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

DON'T MISS

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

DON'T MISS

Today’s Campus Protests Aren’t Nearly as Big or Violent as Those of the Vietnam Era

DON'T MISS

Mike Yaz Homers at Fenway In Giants Win After Visit From His Hall of Fame Grandpa

UP NEXT

Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

UP NEXT

Senators Want Limits on Government’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology for Airport Screening

UP NEXT

Biden Says ‘Order Must Prevail’ on Campuses, but He Won’t Send National Guard

UP NEXT

Police Dismantle UCLA Tent Camp, Take Pro-Palestinian Protesters Into Custody

UP NEXT

Fresno State’s Randa Jarrar Dragged Out of Event Featuring Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik

UP NEXT

Trump Calls Judge ‘Crooked’ After Facing a Warning of Jail Time if He Violates a Trial Gag Order

UP NEXT

Biden’s Historic Marijuana Shift Is His Latest Election Year Move for Young Voters

UP NEXT

The Latest | In Israel, Blinken Pushes Hamas to Agree on Gaza Cease-Fire Deal

UP NEXT

What Marijuana Reclassification Means for the United States

UP NEXT

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Vows to Force a Vote on Ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

9 hours ago

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

9 hours ago

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

9 hours ago

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

10 hours ago

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

10 hours ago

Today’s Campus Protests Aren’t Nearly as Big or Violent as Those of the Vietnam Era

10 hours ago

Mike Yaz Homers at Fenway In Giants Win After Visit From His Hall of Fame Grandpa

10 hours ago

Lagging Revenue Drives California Budget Deficit as Deadline Nears

11 hours ago

Valley Children’s Gets ‘Historic’ Gift to Boost Cancer Treatments. How Big Is It?

Californians Are Protecting Themselves from Wildfire. Why Is There an Insurance Crisis?

11 hours ago

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

Fresno police are investigating an incident of flyers posted on the exterior windows of Temple Beth Israel, and also at St. Anthony of Padua...

5 hours ago

5 hours ago

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

Entertainment /
8 hours ago

Valley PBS’ Top 2 Executives Departing. Were Their Resignations a Surprise?

Video /
8 hours ago

Unfiltered Clip: Insights from Dr. Trita Parsi on Navigating the Israel-Palestine Conflict

9 hours ago

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

9 hours ago

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

9 hours ago

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

10 hours ago

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

10 hours ago

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend