Facebook has introduced yet another function in its continued efforts towards curbing the spread of misinformation regarding the Coronavirus pandemic. The social media platform will now use a notification screen to warn users about the context of the information they are about to share.
“We want to make sure people have the context they need to make informed decisions about what to share on Facebook, especially when it comes to COVID-19 content,” says the social media giant in an official blog post.
“So today, we’re starting to roll out a global notification screen to give people more context about COVID-19 related links when they are about to share them.”
The notification will help users understand the source and recency of the content before sharing it. It will also direct users to Facebook’s information centre where there is access to credible sources and information about Covid-19.
Read: Facebook Rolls Out New Campaign To Help Spot Fake News
The tech giant also clarified that this will not slow down the sharing of information from trusted sources such as Global health authorities. This means that content from the World Health Organization (WHO) and global health authorities such as the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Kenya, will not have the notification.
Facebook recently rolled out an almost similar function alerting users of the timelines of sensational content before sharing. The social media platform has come up with various ways to curb misinformation especially this year due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Recently, Facebook and Twitter faced a challenge after a video purportedly from group calling themselves ‘US frontline health workers” went viral. The group reportedly gave false information on the treatment of Covid-19 and the two social media platforms raced with time to delete the far-reaching and widely shared video.
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