Facebook to notify users who interacted with harmful Covid-19 claims

Facebook says it has directed more than 2 billion users to credible health resources via the Covid-19 Information Centre.

Facebook has launched a new feature called “Get The Facts.” (REUTERS)

Facebook has announced a new measure to help spready credible information about the Covid-19 pandemic. The social networking company said it is now showing messages in News Feed to users who have liked, reacted or commented on misinformation on the Covid-19 that it has taken down.

Facebook said it will help users connect with messages to Covid-19 myths which have been debunked the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"We want to connect people who may have interacted with harmful misinformation about the virus with the truth from authoritative sources in case they see or hear these claims again off of Facebook. People will start seeing these messages in the coming weeks," said Facebook in a post.

Facebook revealed that it has directed over 2 billion people to credible health resources via its Covid-19 Information Centre and related pop-ups. It said over 350 million people have clicked through to learn more.

Since March, Facebook has expanded its fact-checking coverage to more new countries and is working with 60 fact-checking organisations which are currently reviewing content in more than 50 languages, said Mark Zuckerberg in a post.

 

"In March, we displayed warnings on about 40 million posts related to Covid-19 based on 4,000 articles reviewed by independent fact-checkers. When people saw those warning labels, 95% of the time they did not go on to view the original content," he added.

Zuckerberg further announced a new feature called "Get The Facts." As the name implies, users here can read articles written by credible writers about the coronavirus.