Facebook to remove fake claims about COVID-19 vaccines on its platform

Facebook on Thursday announced to step up its fight against the misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines, saying it will remove false claims about these vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts on its platform as well as Instagram.

Facebook said it will remove false claims that Covid-19 vaccines contain microchips, or anything else that isn't on the official vaccine ingredient list.

"Given the recent news that COVID-19 vaccines will soon be rolling out around the world, over the coming weeks we will start removing false claims about these vaccines," the social network said in an update.

Facebook said it is applying its policy to remove misinformation about the virus that could lead to imminent physical harm.

This could include false claims about the safety, efficacy, ingredients or side effects of the vaccines.

"We will also remove conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines that we know today are false: like specific populations are being used without their consent to test the vaccine's safety," the company informed.

As part of their effort to reduce the spread of "vaccine hoaxes" on its platform, Facebook and its photo-messaging app Instagram said last month they will no longer allow advertisements that include misinformation about vaccines.

The company has decided to take action against accounts which are promoting vaccine hoaxes that have been publicly identified by the World Health Organisation and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, US.

"We want to give people more accurate information from expert organisations about vaccines at the top of results for related searches, on Pages discussing the topic, and on invitations to join groups about the topic," Monika Bickert, Vice President, Global Policy Management, Facebook wrote in a blog-post.