Social media companies are taking steps to tamp down coronavirus misinformation

Although social media companies have always been under the scanner for their failure to curb the spread of misinformation, this time around failure is not an option. The pandemic has not only emerged as a challenge to these companies but also a way for them to right past mistakes and social media giants are pulling out all the stops to rise to the occasion.

Hyderabad: We, humans, are social animals. We crave human company, that's just in our nature. Since the early days, humans have lived in groups, big or small. But times have changed. We now live in a time where the same human proximity that helped the early man survive and evolve, can lead to a grim end. The new coronavirus has altered our realities. It has shown the proud human that nature is the one in control. It has shown us that for all our so-called strengths, if mother nature wishes, it can bring us to our knees.

Of all our strengths, we humans have always been proud of our ability to maintain strong social bonds. We have always been proud of our brotherhoods or sisterhoods, but with COVID-19 we have been robbed of even that. However, our tendency to seek like company is strong, therefore as the world goes into a standstill, halting all close quarter interactions, practising "social distancing", we have begun to embrace the virtual world. Unable to interact physically, people have moved to social media with zeal. Not only has social media acted as a bridge to connect people, but major players have also emerged as the main sources of information for the people, which eventually affects their decision-making process, especially during this crisis. Although the flow of information via social media is a boon, there's also a reason to worry - the flow of misinformation. The World Health Organisation is worried that an "infodemic", an overflow of accurate and inaccurate information COVID-19 may thwart the efforts to curb it.

Although social media companies have always been under the scanner for their failure to curb the spread of misinformation, this time around failure is not an option. The pandemic has not only emerged as a challenge to these companies but also a way for them to right past mistakes and social media giants are pulling out all the stops to rise to the occasion.

Although it lost the trust of millions after the Cambridge Analytica scam, Facebook has led the fight against the misinformation with strongest and orderly manner since the initial outbreak. Other social media giants like Twitter and Youtube have also taken steps to stem the flow of misinformation, but there is still much to do for everyone.

Dealing with the overflow of information

Social media companies can promote, demote or outright block content from their platforms. According to Facebook, the average user sees only 10% of their News Feed and the platforms determine what users see by reordering how stories appear. This means demoting and promoting posts could be as essential as blocking them outright. Blocking posts can also prove to be difficult as it goes against the right to speech and expression.

A company like Facebook relies on third-party fact-checkers and health authorities flagging problematic content and removes posts that fail the tests. It also blocks or restricts hashtags that spread misinformation on its sister platform, Instagram.

Twitter and Youtube, on the other hand, have been less consistent in their efforts. Twitter says it has acted to protect against malicious behaviours. Del Harvey, Twitter’s vice president of trust and safety, said that they will remove any attempt to distort or misinform. YouTube removes videos claiming to prevent infections. However, neither company has a transparent blocking policy founded on solid fact-checking.

While all three platforms are demoting problematic content and elevating content from authoritative sources, the absence of consistent fact-checking standards has created a grey area where misinformation can slip through, particularly for Twitter.

The idea of acceding to authoritative figures can also cause problems. For example, @realDonaldTrump can be called an authoritative figure, being the President of America and whatnot, but the POTUS himself has been tweeting misinformation. Several other influential personalities who, although not designated as authoritative figures, have managed to circulate misinformation. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, tweeted a false assertion about the coronavirus to 32 million followers and Twitter has declined to remove his tweet. John McAfee, the founder of the eponymous security solutions company, also tweeted a false assertion about the coronavirus. That tweet was removed but not before it had been widely shared.

Utilizing influence to encourage positive behaviour

Social media platforms are created in a way as to foresee the user’s experience, hold their attention and impact actions. The companies must apply similar techniques to influence positive conduct in response to COVID-19.

Consider some examples across each of the three platforms of failing to influence positive behaviours by overlooking the user experience.

For Facebook users, private messaging is, increasingly, a key source of social influence and information about the coronavirus. Because people tend to turn towards trusted networks - friends, family, colleagues- there is a greater risk of people being exposed to false information. WhatsApp, another Facebook-owned messaging service which touts about its end-to-end encryption also makes it difficult to monitor content.

For Twitter, it’s essential to track “influencers,” or people with many followers. Content shared by these users has greater impact and must be monitored closely.

YouTube has taken a different approach, pairing misleading coronavirus content with a link to an alternative authoritative source, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization. But such pairings might have the opposite effect. Instead of deterring fake information, it might lead unsuspecting users to believe that the information being peddled is approved by these organizations.

Responsible advertising

There is money to be made from ads offering products related to the outbreak. However, some of those ads are not in the public interest. Facebook set a standard by banning ads for medical face masks and Google followed suit, as did Twitter.

Social media companies are giving the CDC and WHO free advertising to promote coronavirus-related messages like this WHO Facebook post. World Health Organization, CC BY-NC All three companies have offered free ads to appropriate public health and nonprofit organizations. Facebook has offered unlimited ads to the WHO, while Google has made a similar but less open-ended offer and Twitter offers Ads for Good credits to fact-checking nonprofit organizations and health information disseminators.

Data to track the outbreak

Social media can be a source of essential data for mapping the spread of the disease and managing it. The key is that the companies protect user privacy, recognize the limits of data analysis and not oversell it. Geographic information systems that build on data from social media and other sources have already become key to mapping the worldwide spread of COVID-19.

The expanding footprint of the pandemic and its consequences are evolving quickly. To their credit, the social media companies have attempted to reply quickly also. Yet, they will have to do more. This is the time for them to rebuild their trust with the general public and with regulators, but the window of opportunity is very small. Their own futures and the futures of millions may depend upon it.