Facebook froze as anti-vaccine comments swarmed users

WASHINGTON — Last March, arsenic mendacious claims astir vaccine information threatened to undermine the world’s effect to COVID-19, researchers astatine Facebook recovered they could trim vaccine misinformation by tweaking however vaccine posts amusement up connected users’ newsfeeds.

“Given these results, I’m assuming we’re hoping to motorboat ASAP,” 1 Facebook worker wrote, responding to the interior memo astir the study, according to The Associated Press.

Yet contempt grounds that it worked, Facebook took a afloat period to instrumentality the changes astatine a pivotal clip successful the planetary vaccine rollout.

The AP besides reports that the institution wholly shelved immoderate suggestions from the study.

Facebook’s ain documents revealed however comments connected posts are a hotbed for anti-vaccine messages. But erstwhile different researcher suggested disabling comments connected vaccine posts, that thought was ignored.

“Why would you not region comments? Because engagement is the lone happening that matters,” said Imran Ahmed, the CEO of net watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate, according to the AP. “It drives attention, and attraction equals eyeballs, and eyeballs adjacent advertisement revenue.”

Those revelations were contained successful disclosures made to the Securities and Exchange Commission by erstwhile Facebook employee-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugen.

In effect to the AP's report, Facebook said it has made “considerable progress” with downgrading vaccine misinformation successful users’ feeds.