Hoping to stem the torrent of false cures and conspiracy theories about COVID-19, Facebook announced Thursday it would begin informing users globally who have liked, commented on, or shared “harmful” misinformation about the coronavirus, pointing them instead in the direction of a reliable source.
Facebook hopes the move will drastically reduce the spread of false information about the coronavirus online, a growing crisis that the World Health Organization (WHO) has described as an “infodemic.”
“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,” said Guy Rosen, Facebook’s Vice President for Integrity, in a blog post published early Thursday.