By Adedapo Adesanya
Facebook has strengthened its resolve to fight COVID-19 misinformation as it works to connect people to accurate information and reduce misinformation on its platforms in Nigeria and other countries.
In a statement, it explained that last month, the company announced the biggest worldwide campaign to promote authoritative information about COVID-19 vaccines which will work to remove false vaccine claims, reduce the distribution of inaccurate health information, and inform people about effective vaccine delivery.
Today, across a number of African countries, Facebook is launching a new campaign in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) called Together Against Covid-19 Misinformation.
The campaign would roll out to people in English and French across South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and DRC, and will show up on Facebook through a series of graphics with tips on how to spot false news.
Speaking on this, Facebook’s Public Policy Manager, Ms Aïda Ndiaye, stated that, “Ensuring users are getting authoritative information about COVID-19 vaccines is just some of the vital work we’re doing here at Facebook.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, we’ll continue working with industry experts and people on our platforms to ensure we’re aggressively tackling misinformation, and giving people additional resources to scrutinize content they see online, helping them decide what to read, trust and share.”
As part of the campaign, Facebook will also be launching a dedicated website in English and French, which will include information on how we’re tackling misinformation on our platforms.
It explained that it will give people more transparency around its Remove, Reduce and Inform strategy, outline its community standards, and share the steps the company is taking to combat false news around global events such as COVID-19, elections and climate change.
Modupe Gbadeyanka