Friday October 15, 2021
Dissemination of fake news
Preferred Facebook opponents of vaccination?
Facebook always emphasizes that it takes systematic action against incorrect information regarding the corona virus. But reports suggest that the online network often turned a blind eye to prominent vaccine opponents. In the United States, several attorneys general are now calling for an explanation from Mark Zuckerberg.
Attorneys-General from 14 US states want to know from Facebook whether prominent vaccine opponents have benefited from special treatment on the online network. In a letter to Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, they refer to media reports that the online network had made exceptions to the enforcement of its content rules for known users. The system that is said to have made this possible is called Cross-Check and has been causing trouble for Facebook for weeks.
The attorneys general are now asking whether the prominent users for whom there were exceptions to Cross-Check were also anti-vaccination agents with many Facebook subscribers. They are particularly interested in the so-called “disinformation dozen”. These are the few people who, according to analyzes, have spread much of the misinformation about corona vaccines in the United States.
Facebook always emphasized that the online network consistently takes action against incorrect information about corona vaccines. The prosecutors point to cases in which contributions by opponents of vaccinations remained on the platform – and also want to know whether financial considerations played a role.
The now controversial system called Cross-Check was introduced, according to Facebook, to avoid errors when removing content. In some cases, such decisions are subjected to a second review – for example, to take into account additional context or other factors such as newsworthiness.