Facebook will combat COVID-19 misinformation directly with notifications


Facebook will send notifications directly to users who like, share, or comment on COVID-19 posts that violate the company’s terms of service, according to a report from Fast Company.

This new feature works like this: if a user interacts with a post that’s later removed, Facebook sends a notification to the user telling them that the post was taken down. If the user clicks the notification, they’ll be taken to a landing page with a screenshot of the post and a short explanation for why it was removed. The landing page will also feature links to COVID-19 educational resources and actions, like unfollowing the group that posted it.

Facebook’s updated anti-misinformation notifications.
Image: Facebook, Fast Company

This is an expansion of Facebook’s previous attempts to combat misinformation. Before this, the company displayed a banner on the news feed, urging users who had engaged with content that had been removed, to “Help Friends and Family Avoid False Information About Covid-19.” But users were often confused at what the banner was referring to, a Facebook product manager told Fast Company. The hope is that new approach is more direct than the banner, while still avoiding scolding users or re-exposing them to misinformation.

Facebook anti-misinformation box for the novel coronavirus

Facebook’s previous anti-misinformation banner.
Image: Facebook

Facebook’s modified approach is arriving almost a year into the pandemic — a little late. The notifications don’t debunk claims in removed posts. They also don’t apply to posts that later have fact-checking labels put on them, Fast Company writes. That means less-dangerous misinformation still has the opportunity to spread.

Facebook has been slow to act on misinformation that the company doesn’t consider dangerous. Though conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines have spread for months, Facebook only began removing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in December. The question now is: is this too little, and too late?



Source link

Among Us comes to Nintendo Switch Previous post Among Us comes to Nintendo Switch
How 100 True Fans Can Change Everything Next post How 100 True Fans Can Change Everything