Meta Takes Down Covid Misinformation Policy Measures

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Meta had adopted strong measures to counter any misinformation regarding the pandemic. However, the inconsistency in their policies drew criticism from the masses as well as the American polity. It has now been reported by Reuters that the tech conglomerate has effectively decided to discard its misinformation policies regarding Covid. Meta said in their statement, “We are consulting with health experts to understand which claims and categories of misinformation could continue to pose this risk.” However, they have also added that these regulations will stand in countries where this pandemic is still considered a health emergency.
Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter deleted over 1.3 billion fake accounts and 20 million content pieces that they identified to be misleading in nature. But they were highly criticised for being biased in its execution, as they ended up banning several doctors educated from top universities like Harvard who shared differing opinions. This inconsistency in policy execution led the House of Representatives to intervene and interrogate Facebook and Twitter officials on this matter. Following this backlash, Twitter also ended up removing its policies regarding misinformation last year in November.