Facebook said Monday (March 15) that it will add hashtags to all posts about the COVID-19 (coronavirus/CCV) vaccine, which the company says is part of its approach to try to help more people get the vaccine.
“We’ve connected more than 2 billion people to authoritative COVID-19 information, and now, as access to COVID-19 vaccine continues to expand, we’re going even further, aiming to help make vaccination more accessible to 50 million people,” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
The California-based technology giant adds hashtags to every post about vaccines, which will display information from the World health Organization (WHO).
“We are continuing our efforts to address COVID-19 vaccine misinformation by adding hashtags to Facebook and Instagram posts that discuss the vaccine. These hashtags contain reliable information from the WHO about the safety of the vaccine,” Facebook said in a blog post.
The hashtags are available globally in six languages (including English and Arabic), with plans to add additional languages in the coming weeks.
In the near future, Facebook is preparing to target “sub-themes” of the vaccine hashtag.
“When someone goes to share Facebook and Instagram posts with informative vaccine hashtags, we will also add an additional screen. It will provide more information and give people the context they need to make informed decisions about what to share.”
Facebook has already removed millions of posts that allegedly violated a “list of false statements” about the outbreak created with the help of the WHO. The deleted posts included the theory that the virus was “man-made.
COVID-19 is a disease caused by a Chinese communist virus. The origin of the virus, which allegedly began spreading in China in late 2019, is unclear.
To further stop the spread of what it calls “potentially harmful COVID-19 and vaccine information,” Facebook has asked administrators to temporarily censor all posts by members and groups that violate the policy.
The company has also reduced the number of posts that “violate the misinformation policy” or restricted the distribution of posts that share information that is inconsistent with Facebook’s “fact-checking” and “out-of-context information.
Facebook’s “fact-checking” agency is largely funded and staffed by left-leaning companies, and at least one company loyal to the Communist Party is funded.
The new announcement comes 10 days before Zuckerberg and other technology CEOs are scheduled to testify before Congress about hearings to combat misleading information about “troubled online platforms.
“The data show that vaccines are safe and can work. They are the best hope for getting rid of this virus and getting back to a normal Life,” Zuckerberg said. He has previously expressed concern about the private use of vaccines. “I want to show my support for vaccines, and I hope you do too.”
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