In recent weeks, tech giant Facebook has announced a series of measures aimed at supporting COVID-19 response. On Thursday, it announced plans to remove misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines from its platforms including Facebook and Instagram.
In a statement gotten by TechCity, Facebook said the action it is taking is in response to plans to rollout the vaccines in the coming weeks. As a major medium of sharing information, the social media platform has been accused of providing an effective avenue for the creation of echo chambers and for driving the swift spread of fake news that has become a major infodemic burden for the COVID-19 response.
“We will start removing false claims about these vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts on Facebook and Instagram,” Facebook stated.
It described the action as a way of using its policy to remove misinformation about the virus that could lead to imminent physical harm.
Items that will removed include false claims about the safety, efficacy, ingredients or side effects of the vaccines.
For example, Facebook said it will remove false claims that COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips, or anything else that isn’t on the official vaccine ingredient list.
“We will also remove conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines that we know today are false: like specific populations are being used without their consent to test the vaccine’s safety,” it said.
Facebook said it will not be able to start enforcing these policies overnight but will continue to update as new facts emerge.
“Since it’s early and facts about COVID-19 vaccines will continue to evolve, we will regularly update the claims we remove based on guidance from public health authorities as they learn more,” the tech giant said.
