Facebook Removed 18 Million Misleading Posts on Covid-19

(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. said it has removed more than 18 million posts on its main social networking site and the photo sharing app Instagram for violating its Covid-19 misinformation policy since the beginning of the pandemic.

The social network has faced criticism over how its platforms have been used to spread fear about vaccines and disinformation about the coronavirus. Facebook started to take stronger measures against Covid-19 misinformation by banning repeat offenders who spread false information and directing users to a central Covid-19 information center. The statistics, reflecting action through April, were released Wednesday as part of the company’s regular community standards enforcement report.

Facebook also announced that it took action during the first quarter of 2021 on more than 8.8 million pieces of “bullying and harassment content” on its main site and 5.5 million similar posts on Instagram.

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