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Many social media firms mainly Facebook are taking good vigilance about removing coronavirus conspiracies as per studies of different sources. Facebook has continuously updating the users on the strategy to rightly know the outbreak and corresponding of misinformation spreading in the world.
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg co-founder of Facebook, reiterated in a Facebook post that the platform was removing conspiracy theories connected to the coronavirus that have been flagged through worldwide health organizations, in addition to labeling coronavirus misinformation with fact check labels to let users know that such content had been rated false. Facebook has also urged and offering the World Health Organization (WHO) as many free ads as they require. At the same time, Zuckerberg also stated that Facebook will block any advertisement that exploit the condition like those that claim a product has a miracle cure for the COVID-19 disease.
According to WHO the Coronaviruses (CoV) are a big family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been formerly diagnosed in humans.
Moreover, Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and humans. Briefed investigations revealed that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to people and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Various known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. WHO also explained that common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more harsh cases, infection can cause pneumonia, harsh acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include usual hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness like coughing and sneezing.
Furthermore sources also recorded that it’s been greater than 2-month since a novel strain of coronavirus popped up in China, and proceeded to spread to countries in the world. And as that’s happened, panic has continued to disseminate in the entire social media, forcing tech platforms to grapple with what WHO is calling an infodemic. Sources also mentioned that last week, the novel coronavirus connected to Wuhan, China, has infected approximately 95,000 people, mostly in mainland China, and there are cases popping up in the entire United States. Greater than 3,200 citizens have died, though investigators at Johns Hopkins tracking the disease also report greater than 51,000 recoveries from the illness.
With more and more people finding online for information about the coronavirus outbreak, they can simply encounter a barrage of misleading and potentially dangerous information. And WHO, which has also released its own myth-busting resources, is warning that misinformation about the novel coronavirus has reasoned harmful stigmatization and discrimination. For instance, in US there are a growing number of reports about misinformation fueling racism against Asian Americans.
Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter have all mentioned that they’ve been working to promote factual content and some are limiting the reach of posts with misinformation on their platforms. For instance, Twitter has put a warning label linking to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) when users search coronavirus. Meanwhile, WHO has now joined TikTok in an attempt to increase correct information about the illness, and many of those firms met with the public health organization at Facebook back in February 2020.
Still, attempts through these social media platforms have not controlled to halt the spread of misleading or outright fake hoaxes about the outbreak in the form of posts and videos that have racked up thousands of ‘clicks, likes and shares’. An important amount of fake information about this virus is also spreading on private channels. Take WhatsApp, for instance. As the Washington Post recorded, the encrypted platform has seen a flurry of fake information about the virus, creating panic among its users in the globe.
Another issue involves politicians promoting the idea that the coronavirus is a hoax or spreading other conspiracy theories about the virus. Sources also revealed that Facebook would remove fake claims and conspiracy theories flagged through WHO that have been shared through politicians or elected officials. Facebook is seeing a broad variety of fake coronavirus posts across these platforms; it’s still hard to tell how widespread the misinformation problem is. Although there is a seemingly endless stream of sources spreading misinformation about the Wuhan coronavirus around the web, Facebook has identified and debunked a few of the most pervasive hoaxes.
In Pakistan, the Government of Pakistan has been taking every possible gauge to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country, the authorities in Sindh have sought intervention from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to trace those who are spreading fake and unsubstantial news by social media about scores of optimistic cases of the virus in Karachi, triggering panic and fear in the people. On the other hand the Government of Pakistan has controlled to contain the pandemic to some extent due to the preventive measures put in place through the government. Greater than 200 people have been tested for the virus in Pakistan. Six people were diagnosed but their condition is recovering every day. The experts recorded that Pakistan’s simple policy is working so far and is working very well and it requires to be more strengthened. The consequence of the coordinated attempts both at the federal and provincial levels will have a positive result. With regards to school closures in the different regions of the country, it is said that at this stage the federal government has not recommended the closure of schools. However, provincial governments are independent and the centre has no objection to their plans to close schools, adding that people should remain positive about the future. The Government of Pakistan is ready for any kind of emergency.
