Facebook Is Cracking Down on Anti-Vax Hoaxes
Facebook today announced that the company is taking a range of different steps to crack down on vaccine-related misinformation on its platforms. There’s been a lot of talk around anti-vaccination lately, and that has obviously led to a ton of misinformation online.
Facebook is now working with leading global health organizations to identify vaccine-related hoaxes and take action against them. The company will now reduce the rank of Facebook Groups and Pages that spread misinformation. These groups and pages will be automatically removed from recommendations and search predictions as a result.
The company is also going to reject ads that include misinformation, and it will completely disable an ad account if they continue to advertise further misinformation. The social network is also going to stop people from targeting things like “vaccine controversies” on its network.
Instagram is affected as part of the latest crackdown, too — posts that contain misinformation will no longer be displayed on Instagram Explore or hashtag pages.
Facebook says the company is also looking to educate people about vaccines when they come across misinformation on the platform. The announcement comes just a day after Facebook announced its major privacy-focused transformation, and the company says it will continue to expand on today’s crackdown to help its network be safer.