In an attempt to curb the spread of misinformation related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Facebook will begin showing notifications to users who have interacted with posts that contain coronavirus misinformation that will likely to contribute to “imminent physical harm”, such as false claims about “cures” or statements that physical distancing is not effective etc. Facebook’s policy will remove those posts from the platform. The users will also face the consequences as those users who have interacted, liked, shared or commented on such content will now receive a warning about the same on their News Feed. The social media giant further launched a couple of new features for promoting accurate news. One of these is a box that will appear for people who liked, reacted to, or commented on a post that Facebook later removed, encouraging them to visit the WHO’s site. It is separately launching a “Get the Facts” section full of vetted news about the pandemic.

Only time will tell how effective these new features are in stopping Facebook becoming the epicentre of coronavirus misinformation.