Facebook Campaigns To Remove False COVID-19 Vaccine Claims

Facebook is running a campaign to remove false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines on its platform as well as on Instagram.

In a blog post, Kang-Xing Jin, Head of Health, said the largest worldwide campaign would promote authoritative information about COVID-19 vaccines in various ways. The company would help people find where and when they can get vaccinated.

The social network would give $120 million in ad credits to help health ministries, NGOs and UN agencies provide COVID-19 vaccine and preventive health information to people across the world.

Further, the company plans to provide data to inform effective vaccine delivery and educational efforts to build trust in COVID-19 vaccines.

Since declaring Covid-19 as a public health emergency a year ago, Facebook said it has connected over 2 billion people from 189 countries to reliable information about the coronavirus through its COVID-19 Information Center and informational messages.

The company also removed more than 12 million pieces of content on Facebook and Instagram containing misinformation that could lead to imminent physical harm.

Facebook also partnered with governments in more than 120 countries, and multilateral organizations like the World Health Organization and UNICEF, to deliver timely information about COVID-19, including through helplines on WhatsApp. Through its Data for Good program, Facebook tied up with over 450 organizations in nearly 70 countries.

In 2020, the company launched new datasets, maps and tools to support researchers, nonprofits and governments in their COVID-19 response.

Earlier in March 2019, Facebook had stated that it was working to tackle vaccine misinformation on its platform by reducing its distribution and providing people with authoritative information on the topic. The company added later that it might also remove access to fundraising tools for Pages that spread misinformation about vaccinations.

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