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PALO ALTO: Facebook Inc has said that it would remove about COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts, following a similar announcement by YouTube in October.
It is the strongest move yet by Facebook to prevent its platform from being used to promote anti-vaccination rhetoric. The social media company has informed that it takes down coronavirus misinformation that poses a risk of “imminent” harm while labeling and reducing distribution of other false claims.
The company further informed that it is an extension of an existing policy to remove false claims about COVID-19, which has been applied to 12 million pieces of content since March.
In a blog post, Facebook said that the global policy change came in response to news that COVID-19 vaccines will soon be rolling out around the world. Two drug companies, Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc, have asked US authorities for emergency use authorisation of their vaccine candidates.
Britain approved the Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the rest of the world in the race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation program in history.
Misinformation about the new coronavirus vaccines has proliferated on social media during the pandemic, including through viral anti-vaccine posts shared across multiple platforms.
“This could include false claims about the safety, efficacy, ingredients or side effects of the vaccines. For example, we will remove false claims that Covid-19 vaccines contain microchips,” the company added.
Facebook did not specify when it would begin enforcing the updated policy, but acknowledged it would not be able to start enforcing these policies overnight.
