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Facebook announced Thursday that it will start removing misinformation about coronavirus vaccines as vaccinations are set to roll out worldwide.
Articles containing false claims about the “safety, efficacy, ingredients or side effects” of vaccines can be removed, the social media giant said in a blog post.
“For example, we will remove false claims that COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips, or anything else that is not on the official vaccine ingredient list,” he said.
The policy change comes as vaccines from three companies – Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna – are nearly approved by health officials.
Facebook has already removed more general disinformation about coronaviruses, and the company also in October banned ads discouraging all kinds of vaccinations, although it allowed ads that argue against government vaccination policies to remain in place.
Despite these efforts, Facebook has been a breeding ground for all kinds of vaccination misinformation.
These lies appear to have spread in the real world, with research revealing that online anti-vaccination communities have contributed to widespread reluctance to take a coronavirus vaccine.
It is unclear why Facebook had not already aggressively eliminated user-generated vaccine misinformation.
The rejection of the coronavirus vaccine based on online misinformation could be particularly dangerous given that many experts estimate that around 60% of the population would need to be vaccinated to stop the spread of the virus.
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