The social media giant said it will be monitoring for ‘misinformation’
Zero Hedge – December 4th 2020, 2:35 am
It was probably inevitable.
Just in time for the vaccine rollout in the US this coming week (as Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said, inventory has already been loaded on to trucks, and will be en route to destinations across the country as soon as the FDA gives the green light) Facebook said Thursday that it’s “updating its policies around the coronavirus by removing false claims about upcoming vaccines”.
The social media giant said it will be monitoring for misinformation that has been debunked by public health experts on both Facebook and Instagram.
“This could include false claims about the safety, efficacy, ingredients or side effects of the vaccines. For example, we will remove false claims that COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips, or anything else that isn’t on the official vaccine ingredient list,” Facebook said in its announcement.
The company added that it will also remove conspiracy theories about Covid-19 vaccines that we know today are false, such as that specific populations are being forced to test the vaccine against their will.
“Since it’s early and facts about COVID-19 vaccines will continue to evolve, we will regularly update the claims we remove based on guidance from public health authorities as they learn more,” Facebook added, but also said that it would “not be able to start enforcing these policies overnight.”
Previously, Facebook removed Covid-19 misinformation that could contribute to “imminent physical harm.” That included false claims or cures about the disease, that the coronavirus is caused by 5G, or that it does not exist.
According to the Independent, PA News Agency editor Tom Phillips said social media companies should do more to combat misinformation, but they also must be extremely careful not to go too far and quash public debate.
“We have seen a lot of the internet platforms take stricter measures against vaccine misinformation and I think that is the correct approach. Could some of them go further? Yes, possibly.”
“But at the same time, it is important to remember the importance of free speech. It’s not illegitimate to have questions or worries about the vaccine and it’s important that we don’t just react by trying to suppress those questions. We allow people to ask the questions, get good quality answers and make up their minds based on good quality information.”
A team of analysts at Goldman Sachs pointed out a few days ago that public trust in COVID-19 vaccines has been rising in recent weeks as the FDA has moved closer to approval of the first experimental vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer.
Or at least that’s what ‘public opinion polls’ are reflecting as Dr. Anthony Fauci and others repeatedly warn that bolstering the “credibility” of vaccines by being as “transparent” as possible is of paramount importance.
Now, with Team Biden about to step into the White House, Zuckerberg is doing what must be done to mollify his Democratic critics.