Selena Gomez Warns Facebook That Disinformation About COVID-19 Vaccines ‘Will Cost Lives’

“#We took a thousand bits of misinformation and got volunteers to report it using the platform’s own reporting systems,” #Ahmed said. “And less than 5% of it was taken down. The truth is we’ve been gaslit by the social media companies, they say they’re doing their utmost. #But in reality, they’re doing absolutely nothing.” #In early #December, before the U.S. began distributing the two approved vaccines, the #New #York #Times reported that FB pledged to remove posts containing claims about COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts.

#At the time, FB said it planned to take down COVID-19 vaccine falsehoods completely if the claims were discredited or contradicted by health organizations such as the #World #Health #Organization and the #Centers for #Disease #Control and #Prevention. “This is another way that we are applying our policy to remove misinformation about the virus that could lead to imminent physical harm,” the company said in a blog post. “This could include false claims about the safety, efficacy, ingredients or side effects of the vaccines.”

#In a statement to #Billboard on #Wednesday, a spokesperson for FB said, “#We are committed to reaching as many people as possible with accurate information about vaccines, and launched partnerships with WHO and #Unicef to do just that. #We’ve banned ads that discourage people from getting vaccines and reduced the number of people who see vaccine hoaxes verified by the WHO and the CDC. #We also label #Pages and #Groups that repeatedly share vaccine hoaxes, lower their posts in #News #Feed, and do not recommend them to anyone. #We continue to remove accounts and content that violate our policies and are the only company to work with over 80 fact-checking organizations around the world. “

#Check out #Gomez’s tweet below.