Facebook and Instagram have had to remove more than 18 million posts of misinformation about COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to a new report released by the company on May 19.In addition, more than 167 million posts were rated as “false” by the social media companies’ reviewers, meaning they contained misinformation about COVID-19. Facebook spokespeople said they “would not contribute to or pose any safety risk.” The data was released as part of Community Standards Enforcement Report .
The report states the following: “From the beginning of the pandemic through April 2021, we removed over 18 million posts from Facebook and Instagram globally for violating our policies on misinformation and harm related to COVID-19. We are also working to increase vaccine adoption and combat vaccine misinformation.”
Facebook representatives said these efforts include creating social media stickersto ensure users see when their friends and family are getting vaccinated, as well as to direct them to accurate information about vaccines.
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"This is part of our goal to help people get one step closer to vaccination. We believe we have an opportunity to make a difference here," a Facebook spokesperson said during a phone interview.
Misinformation about COVID-19 could prove very harmful, an expert said.
Additionally, Mary Blankenship, a researcher at the University of Nevada who studies how misinformation spreads, pointed out: “With COVID-19, there is a particular risk because medical misinformation needs to be addressed. There is a lot of online traffic in general related to COVID-19.”
The 18 million posts removed from Facebook and Instagram likely only scratched the surface, according to Blankenship.
"We will continue to look at ways to add transparency in the future," a Facebook spokesperson said.
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The May 19 announcement also included the revelation that Facebook had hired a third-party professional services firm, EY, to conduct an “independent audit” of the company to “validate that its metrics are being calculated and reported correctly” when it comes to content that violates the platforms’ policies.
In addition to the COVID-19 misinformation posts that were removed, Facebook said it removed 10 million “pieces of organized hate content” in the first quarter of 2021, up from 6.4 million at the end of last year.
Social media companies have come under fire in recent months for their role in spreading misinformation. Conspiracy theories that had taken root on social media emerged during the violent demonstration at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
“We have these huge global communication platforms, where anyone can freely say anything to the entire world, and that allows for the amplification and spread of unfounded and extreme views,”said Russell Muirhead, a professor at Dartmouth College and author of “A Lot of People Are Saying,” which explores the impact of conspiracy theories on democracy.
After the Capitol attack, social media platforms took some unprecedented steps in an effort to tackle hate speech and misinformation online — for example, they blocked the accounts of then-US President Donald Trump.
Facebook spokespeople said on May 19 that they intend to continue fighting for the right balance between protecting free speech while trying to combat misinformation.
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Specifically, they emphasized the following: “We support an approach where the rules of the Internet are updated with reforms to federal law that protect freedom of expression, while allowing platforms like ours to remove content that threatens people’s safety.”
The social media giant is also creating a new “Transparency Center” dedicated to explaining how it removes hateful content. This center will explain how Facebook employees “reduce the spread of problematic content that violates the company’s policies and give users additional context so they can decide where to click, what to read, or what to share.
Blankenship said these efforts are a step in the right direction, but there is more to be done. Social media platforms earn most of their revenue from advertising, Blankenship explained, meaning their goal is to keep users online so they can see ads. Misinformation often spreads when it causes “anger or fear,” according to Blankenship.
Finally, Blankenship stressed that it is good for social media to enforce some standards on their platforms. This should have been done much earlier, because even though misinformation is now being addressed, a "void" is being created on these social media sites.
Source of information: globalnews.ca
