Facebook removes 18 million COVID-19 misinformation – Official
By Abdulkareem Mojeed
Facebook’s misinformation policy manager for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey, Tom Nvumba-O’Bryan, on Wednesday said the company has removed a total of 18 million misinformation about COVID-19 virus published on its platform thus far.
Mr Nvumba-O’Bryan disclosed this while making a virtual presentation on the technological approach to combating misinformation at the ongoing Information Disorder West Africa Conference (IDWAC) in Abuja.
“18 million misinformation has been removed about COVID-19 so far,” Mr Nvumba-O’Bryan said.
The two-day conference organised by DUBAWA, an independent fact-checking organization headquartered in Abuja, is aimed at engaging media professionals, academics, researchers, and the public on the subject of information disorder and the efforts at combating it.
Speaking further, Mr Nvumba-O’Bryan noted that Facebook, now called Meta Platforms, Inc, tackles misinformation using three strategies: Reduce, Remove and Inform.
He said: “Part of the reason we partner with fact-checking organisations is to be able to fully identify misinformation and debunk claims.”
The official said they have significantly removed pages or domains that repeatedly share misinformation.
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