Facebook Will Flag COVID-19 Myths for News Feed Users

Facebook said it will start flagging users of its News Feed who have "liked, reacted or commented on" content it has removed from its platform as misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Facebook will connect those users to what it said are COVID-19 myths debunked by the World Health Organization. 

Those include that drinking alcohol can protect from the virus or hair dryers can kill it. 

Those include info Facebook has removed because they could lead to "imminent physical harm."  

"We want to connect people who may have interacted with harmful misinformation about the virus with the truth from authoritative sources in case they see or hear these claims again off of Facebook," said Guy Rosen, VP Integrity, for Facebook in a blog post Thursday (April 16). He said that would happen in "the coming weeks."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.