A new feature will roll out on Facebook soon. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that the social network has built an information center that will point users to accurate information about the novel coronavirus.
Facebook's new "authoritative information" center feature will soon appear at the top of a user's News Feed. The feature will include posts, articles, and videos from global agencies and health authorities like the World Health Organization. It's the company's latest effort in fighting misleading and false posts about COVID-19
"The broad consensus is that the biggest role that we can help play is encouraging people to take the social distancing orders seriously, especially folks who might feel like they're not personally at risk," Zuckerberg told the media Wednesday
Social media companies are currently hard at work tracking down false news about the coronavirus. While it's unfortunate that the viral spread shows no signs of slowing down, it's more disheartening that various individuals are spreading misleading and harmful posts relating to the pandemic.
However, it's not clear how Facebook and other social media sites are tracking down false news and how well efforts have been working. A report from The NY Times earlier this month claims that misinformation continues to slip through the watchful eyes of social media guards. It doesn't help that some misleading info are posted in private groups, making them harder to remove.
Facebook has been working with third-party checkers in charge of limiting the audience of posts that they find fake or false. The social media giant is also removing posts that could physically harm people, such as claims that drinking bleach kills the coronavirus.
The efforts of government agencies can be witnessed on social media as well, both in dispelling hoaxes and providing good and helpful information. While Facebook has admitted to encountering technical issues in tracking false and harmful posts, it did report that the problem has been fixed.
Zuckerberg has also acknowledged their shortcomings in cracking down misinformation given the huge number of posts that make sifting through them a challenging task. As of writing, the social media company hasn't shared data regarding the number of false coronavirus posts or its removal rate.
Facebook's new information center will roll out in the US, UK, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy within the next 24 hours. It will eventually release the new feature to the rest of the world, albeit the lack of a specific date.
