Meta, which took decisions to prevent conspiracy theories about Covid-19 in 2020, is considering giving up this policy. The Covid-19 misinformation restrictions, which had been in place for nearly two years, were brought back under scrutiny at Meta’s board.
Facebook wants to soften its Covid-19 policies
The misinformation policies implemented on Meta’s social media platforms can be shelved. According to Nick Clegg, Head of Meta Global Affairs, who made a statement on the subject, the way of dealing with Covid-19 misinformation will be kept at the same level as standard policies.
The Covid-19 restrictions, which were implemented in 2020 and had very strict rules, removed the information from the platform if it was labeled incorrectly and suspended the user who shared it. Now, it has been stated that these conspiracy theories will be examined according to the algorithmic order.
Meta management, which has examined the policies related to Covid-19, no longer thinks to ban the shares directly. The company wants to put conspiracy theories into various labels or algorithmic rankings.
For this, it will examine the Covid-19 posts directly or through a third-party fact-checking program. So Meta plans to just tag, rather than delete, potentially false or harmful information.
Faced with major accusations regarding freedom of expression, the Meta administration believes that everyone has an equal right to speak. But for the past two years, Covid-19 has been taking an “aggressive” stance on conspiracy theories.
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