Facebook has always been a double-edged sword when it comes to news, updates, and information. This rises from the fact that there is an unhealthy amount of posts that contain misleading content. To curb this wave, Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook has removed 18 million posts with COVID misinformation.
New Interview with Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, and founder of Facebook, recently appeared in an interview where he shed light on these posts. The interview was taken by Gayle King from CBS News. In the interview, Gayle King brought up the fact that many were displeased by the amount of misinformation that became viral on the platform. He asked Mark Zuckerberg what he thought would be a good approximation for the number of people who had viewed those posts.
Mark Zuckerberg had replied in a fashion that almost seem to avoid the main question by stating that he could give a sizeable accurate number based on the number of posts Facebook had taken action against. He further went on to say that Facebook has removed 18 million posts with COVID misinformation.
Contrasting message compared to previous statements
In the video that was released, Mark Zuckerberg agreed with Gayle King and said that it was a matter that was not to be taken likely and that he could understand the problem posed by such posts. However, while it is comforting that action is being taken against the spread of false information and propaganda, this was a contrasting stance compared to the ones he had taken in previous interviews.
In past interviews, he had stated that it was against Facebook’s policy to take down posts even if they had seen them and believed they contained harmful information.
Facebook is not 100% rid of COVID misinformation yet
In the interview with Gayle King, Mark Zuckerberg stated that while Facebook has removed 18 million posts with COVID misinformation, he wasn’t sure if the platform was free from the blight of such posts.
He went on to say that mistakes could have been made and was sure there are still fields and areas in which improvement could be made. However, he had a tone of reassurance while saying that the social media giant was actively using the best resources, systems, and personnel to tackle the issue.
Facebook was targeted by similar criticism in past
The misinformation regarding COVID – 19 and the pandemic has not been the first time the company has been under fire for the spread of harmful and misleading information. In recent times, the platform has seen a massive surge in posts that spread information against the usage of masks, vaccines, and the need to follow COVID -19 guidelines. The statistics that have been analyzed so far seem to indicate that there has been an alarmingly large amount of misinformation that has regularly proliferated the website.
Many prominent celebrities had condemned such posts on Facebook and had even gone as far as to delete their accounts in the past.
The President of the United States of America had previously made a statement that Facebook’s posts were influencing people to the point of “Killing them.” He later reformed the statement to say that he meant the misinformation was killing them and not Facebook.
Steps taken by Facebook to help get over the pandemic
Apart from Facebook removing 18 million posts with COVID misinformation, Mark Zuckerberg also stated that there was an exclusive section on Facebook where people could find “Authoritative information” about COVID -19. He also revealed that more than 2 billion people had viewed that information. The platform also has a vaccine finder search tool that has been used by at least 3.3 million Americans to schedule appointments for their vaccines.
Full Interview to be aired soon
The video of Mark Zuckerberg stating that Facebook had removed 18 million posts with COVID misinformation was a clip from the interview that is yet to be aired. The full version of the interview is scheduled to go live on air this Thursday.
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