Facebook said on Tuesday that the company will begin to ban ads that explicitly discourage people from getting vaccinated , and also announced the launch of a new coronavirus vaccine campaign.
The company published a blog post stating that advertisements supporting or opposed to vaccines (including the new crown pneumonia vaccine) related legislation or government policies can still be placed, and said that it will start implementing this new global policy in the next few days.
Facebook has 2.7 billion monthly active users. The social media giant has been facing pressure from the US Congress and public health organizations to crack down on anti-vaccine content and misinformation. The company said that although the new crown pneumonia vaccine will not be available in the short term, the pandemic highlights the importance of preventive health behaviors. Facebook’s previous rule is that for vaccines that have been recognized by major health organizations, advertisements containing related misinformation or hoaxes are prohibited; but if the advertisements do not contain false content, then advertisements against vaccines can also be placed.
This summer, Facebook’s public policy manager Jason Hirsch said that the company believes that users should be able to express their personal anti-vaccine views, and that if the review is too positive, it may distract those who hesitate. Turn to the anti-vaccine camp.
Facebook Health Director Kang-Xing Jin and Product Management Director Rob Leathern (Rob Leathern) said in a blog post that Facebook will also start guiding American users this week to learn about the new coronavirus vaccine and how to obtain the vaccine. The two added that Facebook is cooperating with public health partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF to carry out information dissemination activities to increase immunization rates.
Earlier this year, researchers said that during the new coronavirus pandemic, social media platforms, including Facebook, were flooded with anti-vaccine content and misinformation.
In September of this year, the company also said that it would stop recommending Facebook groups related to health issues, saying that it is vital that people obtain health information from “authoritative sources.”
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