Meta wants to stop deleting misinformation about COVID-19 their platforms such as Facebook. By adopting a policy of deleting information related to the coronavirus that could endanger people’s health, the company Mark Zuckerberg wants to loosen the rules. Nick Clegg, president of Meta Global Affairs, asked the Supervisory Board to look at how they deal with disinformation so as not to erase it.
Although Meta claims to have removed more than 25 million false reports about COVID-19, the company does not want to be so drastic. Clegg suggests that the messages may be verified by third parties and that there is no need to remove them unless they pose an imminent risk of harm.
According to Target, situation with COVID-19 has changed. In many countries where vaccination rates are high, life is returning to normal. Instead of eliminating fake news about vaccines or the use of masks, the company suggests that they be flagged or downvoted directly.
The tech company says it is “fundamentally committed to freedom of expression” and that its apps are important for people to have their voices heard.
But resolving internal tensions between freedom of expression and security is not easy, especially when we face rapid and unprecedented challenges, as we did during the pandemic.
The Company seeks the opinion of the Supervisory Board on these policies. This decision will help them respond to future health emergencies..
Meta not interested in fighting disinformation
Although Meta claims that remains committed to combating misinformation about COVID-19, Such actions call into question their intentions.. Deleting 25 million posts or deleting more than 3,000 accounts, pages or groups dedicated to spreading fake news about the pandemic seems small when you consider that Facebook has more than 2 billion active users worldwide.
The company announced its plan to combat hoaxes in the early months of the pandemic, but has not committed to fixing them. With the help of fact checkers, Meta tags over 190 million posts as false, modified, or missing from the context. The warnings were useless or the content was displayed at the bottom of the page. innings; disinformation continued to flow for almost a year. After months of criticism, Facebook has decided to take action on the matter and has confirmed that it will eliminate fake news.
By asking the Supervisory Board to consider relaxing the rules against disinformation, Meta is making it clear that it has no interest in the good of its users.
Source: Hiper Textual
