(Facebook) Meta considers easing its Covid-19 misinformation policy

Meta Asks Oversight Board to Advise on COVID-19 Misinformation Policies (Meta/Facebook)

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Source: CNN

Meta considers easing its Covid-19 misinformation policy

By Brian Fung, CNN
Updated 1833 GMT (0233 HKT) July 26, 2022

Washington (CNN Business) — Facebook-parent Meta is weighing whether to relax its policies against Covid-19 misinformation, proposing a shift from removing false claims to simply labeling or demoting them.

The social media giant on Tuesday asked its independent Oversight Board for an opinion on whether its tougher pandemic policies are still warranted, citing higher vaccination rates around the world as well as the company's own efforts to promote authoritative information about Covid-19.

One alternative to removing false claims, the company suggested, may be to label or suppress them in users' feeds — either by having Meta police the claims directly or by outsourcing that work to its third-party fact-checkers, whose reports can prompt Meta's algorithms to reduce the visibility of claims rated as fake.

"Meta remains committed to combating COVID-19 misinformation and providing people with reliable information," wrote Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, in a blog post. But, he added, "as the pandemic has evolved, the time is right for us to seek input from the Oversight Board about our measures to address COVID-19 misinformation, including whether those introduced in the early days of an extraordinary global crisis remains the right approach for the months and years ahead."

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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/26/tech/meta-covid-misinformation/index.html