Facebook to ban COVID-19 vaccine 'misinformation'

Facebook announced in a blog post on Thursday that they will be removing "misinformation" regarding the coronavirus vaccine from their platform.

The blog post, titled "Keeping People Safe and Informed About the Coronavirus," outlines a number of policies Facebook will be pursuing to ensure that Facebook users receive accurate information about the coronavirus.

"Given the recent news that COVID-19 vaccines will soon be rolling out around the world, over the coming weeks we will start removing false claims about these vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts on Facebook and Instagram," the blog post reads.

"Since it’s early and facts about COVID-19 vaccines will continue to evolve, we will regularly update the claims we remove based on guidance from public health authorities as they learn more."

Facebook's blog post was written by Kang-Xing Jin, a friend of Mark Zuckerberg's from college who is known within the company as KX. Despite having no background in medicine or health, KX is the Head of Health at Facebook and has played a key role since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in designing company policy regarding it.

Facebook insists, however, that a background in the medical field is not required for the role KX, who has a degree in computer science, fills. "The purpose of the role isn't intended to be a health expert," said a spokesperson for Facebook. "It's intended to be managerial, to pull people in and have a vision of how to work within the company."

The blog post notes a number of other policies Facebook has designed to help handle the coronavirus pandemic, including banning ads for face masks and hand sanitizer which Facebook considers "exploitative," providing free ad space to global health organizations, investing $100 million in small businesses, donating $25 million to support healthcare workers, and donating another $2 million to mental health hotlines.

Facebook also said they would continue to support fact-checkers. The company's "independent fact checkers" have been criticized by many conservatives for a perceived left-wing bias and as an attempt at censorship by a company with a near-monopolistic hold on the social media sphere. Conservative commentator Candace Owens launched a lawsuit against the company last month after sharing a video of a doctor offering their opinion on the ongoing pandemic was fact-checked, leading to her account being demonetized.

The move comes over a month and a half after Alphabet Inc.-owned YouTube announced that they would also be removing misinformation surrounding the coronavirus vaccine. The announcement was an expansion of previous platform policy banning what they allege to be misinformation surrounding the pandemic, including videos disputing health guidelines supported by health officials such as social distancing. They did note, however, that "broad concerns" surrounding the coronavirus vaccine would be permissible.