Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Twitter, Facebook Try To Tackle Vaccine Misinformation
The Hill: Twitter To Label, Remove Coronavirus Vaccine Misinformation
Twitter said Wednesday it will begin labeling and removing posts with false claims about coronavirus vaccines during the coming weeks as efforts to vaccinate front-line workers across the country are underway. The social media platform said it will expand its existing policies regarding coronavirus misinformation to include posts that “advance harmful, false or misleading narratives” about the COVID-19 vaccinations. Those posts will be labeled and the platform said it may require users to remove such tweets. (Klar, 12/16)
PCMag: Facebook Starts Sending Notifications To Users Who Engage With COVID-19 Misinformation
Facebook is reportedly cracking down harder on COVID-19 misinformation. The social network is notifying users who have liked, commented on, or shared a post that's been removed for violating Facebook's terms of service relating to the coronavirus pandemic. Then, in an effort to course correct, it will connect those folks with what the company deems trustworthy sources. (Mlot, 12/16)
Stat: Facebook Overhauls Its Covid-19 Misinformation Policy
Facebook has overhauled its approach to harmful Covid-19 health misinformation, announcing major changes that would send a much stronger message to users who have interacted with harmful falsehoods about the virus. The decision on Tuesday comes after STAT reported in May on expert criticism of the social network’s handling of falsehoods about Covid-19 from the researchers whom Facebook said it had consulted to design the policy. (Brodwin, 12/16)
The New York Times: From Voter Fraud To Vaccine Lies: Misinformation Peddlers Shift Gears
As Mr. Trump’s challenges to the election’s results have been knocked down and the Electoral College has affirmed President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s win, voter fraud misinformation has subsided. Instead, peddlers of online falsehoods are ramping up lies about the Covid-19 vaccines, which were administered to Americans for the first time this week. (Alba and Frenkel, 12/16)
