Facebook is defending a recent update to Messenger that limits the number of times a message can be forwarded. Users can now only forward a message a maximum of five times, as the firm aims to tamp down on misinformation campaigns – especially about the presidential election and coronavirus pandemic. If a user is warned … Read more
Disgraced celebrity chef Pete Evans is convinced that Facebook has ‘shadow-banned’ his account after his engagement levels dropped dramatically this month. The former My Kitchen Rules judge, who was sacked from Channel Seven earlier this year for his dangerous and unscientific views, told fans last week that his ‘reach is disappearing by the day’. He is … Read more
Facebook has come under fire recently for allowing medical misinformation to run rampant on its platform and a new report finds it may be worse than previously believed. Non-profit group Avaaz found 84 percent of posts with false claims and advice have gone unlabeled to warn users of the misleading content. Not only did Facebook’s … Read more
Google has been accused of waging a misinformation campaign by claiming that Australians will be denied free internet searches if it is forced to pay media companies for news. Anyone using the search engine is now confronted with a yellow exclamation mark with a link to a so-called ‘open letter to Australians’ from the company’s … Read more
Facebook banned one of the biggest anti-mask groups on its platform for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 Facebook has removed one of the biggest anti-mask groups on its platform The group was spreading misinformation about COVID-19 Unfounded claims include masks preventing oxygen flow and psychological effects Other groups still exist on the platform and Facebook said … Read more
The EU on Tuesday formally accused China and Russia of mounting targeted coronavirus disinformation campaigns to undermine European democracy, in documents seen by AFP. In a paper on what it called the ‘flood’ of misleading and inaccurate information proliferating around the pandemic, Brussels says Beijing and Moscow had set out to polarise debate and burnish … Read more
International group of fact-checkers launch a myth-busting WhatsApp bot that lets users query terms like ‘masks’ to pull up trustworthy information on coronavirus The bot is designed by Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checkers Network It can be queried by WhatsApp users and pulls from the IFCN’s database IFCN’s chatbot also directs users to their local fact-check … Read more
YouTube adds fact-check ‘information panels’ to search results in the US in an effort to prevent the spread of misinformation amid coronavirus pandemic The panels will contain articles from third-party fact checkers They will show up in video searches to help debunk misinformation Among the topics affected will be COVID-19 related videos YouTube will slowly … Read more
Researchers call on social media platforms to archive coronavirus misinformation so they can study effects on public health A letter calls on social media platforms to archive COVID-19 misinformation The data can be used to track how misinformation affects public health It could also be used to issue regular transparency reports The letters asks for data … Read more