Websites spreading misinformation about health attracted nearly half a billion views on Facebook in April alone, as the coronavirus pandemic escalated worldwide, a report has found.
Facebook had promised to crack down on conspiracy theories and inaccurate news early in the pandemic. But as its executives promised accountability, its algorithm appears to have fuelled traffic to a network of sites sharing dangerous false news, campaign group Avaaz has found.
False medical information can be deadly; researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine have directly linked a single piece of false information to 800 coronavirus deaths.
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...ng-readers-towards-covid-misinformation-study