Facebook plans a new section to debunk corona myths

Facebook has announced that it will launch ‘Facts About COVID-19’ — a dedicated section — on its social media platform next week to limit the spread of misinformation about the pandemic. The section is likely to be launched on Tuesday.

It will debunk common myths that have been identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) such as drinking bleach will prevent the coronavirus or that taking hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19.

“This week we are launching a dedicated section of the COVID-19 Information centre called Facts about COVID-19,” the company said in a statement “This is the latest step in our ongoing work to fight misinformation about the pandemic,” they added.

To help keep everyone safe and informed, the company is putting alerts at the top of the Facebook app and Instagram to remind people to wear masks.

“We have connected over two billion people to resources from health authorities through our COVID-19 Information Centre and pop-ups on Facebook and Instagram with over 600 million people clicking through to learn more,” the company informed.

Since January, people have raised over $100 million for COVID-19 related fundraisers on Facebook and Instagram, they said.

Meanwhile, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has slammed the Donald Trump administration for the way it has handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Facebook CEO, the US response to the disease has been less effective when compared to even many developing countries.

Meanwhile, in other technicial advancements Facebook has now made screen sharing available globally on the latest versions of Messenger’s Android and iOS apps, besides the desktop app and Web.

Screen sharing allows people to instantly share their screen with friends and family one-on-one or in a group video call with up to eight people and up to 16 people in Rooms while using Messenger on their mobile devices.

This feature allows one to share a live view of your screen so you can share virtually anything together.

“Whether you want to share memories from your camera roll, shop together online, co-browse social media, and more - screen sharing makes it easy to stay connected and close with your loved ones, even when you’re physically apart,” Nora Micheva, Product Manager, Messenger, said in a blog post.

In addition to screen sharing on mobile and web, screen sharing is also available in Messenger Rooms with up to 16 people on web and desktop.

“We will soon add the ability to control who can share their screen in Rooms and expand the number of people you can share your screen with up to 50 within Messenger Rooms,” Micheva said.

Indo-Asian News Service