Facebook announced it will start adding labels to Facebook and Instagram posts discussing coronavirus vaccines in order to do more on its platforms to encourage users to get vaccinated.
In a Monday blog post, the company said the labels will be applied to “all posts generally about COVID-19 vaccines,” will detail vaccine safety information provided by the World Health Organization, and will note specifically that “vaccines go through tests for safety and effectiveness before they’re approved.”
The social media giant also revealed that it has removed 2 million pieces of content on Facebook and Instagram since it updated its virus and vaccine-related information policies in February.
FOUR HIDDEN WAYS BIG TECH PLATFORMS SUCK UP YOUR DATA
Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox told NBC News that the company is managing “a huge gray area of people who have concerns … some of which some people would call misinformation and some of which other people would call doubt.”
“The best thing to do in that huge gray area is just to show up with authoritative information in a helpful way, be a part of the conversation, and do it with health experts,” Cox explained.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who chairs the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee, has frequently targeted Facebook for how it manages the spread of information on its platforms.
“I said I was coming over here to do an event on misinformation,” Klobuchar said in a recent news conference. “And they said, ‘Oh man, my mother-in-law just called me. She thinks there is a microchip in the vaccine.’ And I said, ‘Well, where do you think she got that information?’ And they said, ‘Online.’”
Beyond labels, the social media giant is employing a tool that identifies nearby vaccination sites to users in the United States. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post that the company’s goal in rolling out this tool is “to help bring 50 million people a step closer to getting Covid-19 vaccines.”
When asked for additional comment, a Facebook spokesperson called the 50 million number a “worldwide goal” and referred the Washington Examiner back to Zuckerberg’s statement.
The company is also having its instant messaging platform WhatsApp use chatbots, a software application that generates automated responses to human users, to register people for vaccinations.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
About 21% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, and 11.3% have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
