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Banning news links just days before Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout? Facebook, that’s just dangerous

Maryke Steffens

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Banning news links just days before Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout? Facebook, that’s just dangerous

LINE. Residents line up to be tested for the coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) amid a state-wide lockdown in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, February 15, 2021.

Photo by Luis Ascui/Reuters/AAP

'By minimizing the media’s role at this moment, Facebook will make it harder for people to access good information, at a time when they need it most'
as published bythe conversation
Banning news links just days before Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout? Facebook, that’s just dangerous

Facebook’s decision to ban media organizations from posting links to news articles on the social media giant’s platform comes less than a week before Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout begins. The ban also prevented many health organizations, government health departments, and other organizations from posting links (some, but not all, have now been restored).

The combined effect of this could be incredibly damaging.

My research is on how poor-quality information and misinformation in online environments, including social media, is presenting serious challenges for public health.

When I saw the news about Facebook’s ban this morning, I was struck by the terrible timing. Now, more than ever we need credible, evidence-based information about COVID-19 vaccines circulating on social media.

A balance to less credible information

Of course, not all media reporting is perfect. But research by myself and others has shown the media in general plays an important role as gatekeepers and disseminators of high-quality public health information to the public.

You can be critical of individual news organizations or reports while also recognizing that much of the media has provided a crucial counterbalance to less credible information and misinformation on social media about vaccines.

We are now at risk of an imbalance in the types of COVID-19 vaccine information available on social media, just when the public needs reassurance and evidence-based answers to their often quite reasonable questions.

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What we know so far about Facebook’s blocking of news content in Australia

What we know so far about Facebook’s blocking of news content in Australia
Public health organizations and government sites caught up in the ban

The fact that public health organizations and health departments were or are caught up in this — and are or were also reportedly unable to post links to their Facebook pages — is particularly worrying.

Facebook has said government pages should not be affected — but some have been. Some have now been restored and Facebook said it will reverse the ban on any pages accidentally affected.

Public health organizations — including government departments, research institutes, charities, and not-for-profits — do so much in the vaccine information and hesitancy space.

Many people understandably have genuine questions and concerns about COVID-19 vaccines. People are really hungry for information right now. One of the main ways people get it is through social media.

Public health organizations support people with concerns on social media by digesting complex information, translating it for non-scientists, and answering questions.

And that’s why this timing is incredibly poor.

Facebook has traditionally been the place where a lot of vaccine misinformation has been spread. The social media giant does appear to be making an effort to fight misinformation. It recently did a purge and made it harder for posts by groups spreading vaccine misinformation to appear in people’s newsfeeds. Facebook has also pledged to fight misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

But banning links from media and public health organizations, just as we prepare to begin a national vaccine rollout, certainly won’t help that effort.

Positive vaccination messaging will suffer

Many media organizations are likely planning a lot of coverage to go with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

In general, I have been impressed with the efforts of many media organizations to inform people about the science that underpins the new COVID-19 vaccines and debunk vaccine myths and misinformation.

They have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting and complementing the work of public health organizations, many of which lack the budget to do that kind of health messaging on their own.

By minimizing the media’s role at this moment, Facebook will make it harder for people to access good information, at a time when they need it most.

We are living through a significant public health event. Facebook has a moral responsibility to support public health messages being put out by experts and today’s decision doesn’t help achieve that.

– The Conversation|Rappler.com

Maryke Steffens is a Research Affiliate, University of Sydney; Research Fellow, National Center for Immunization Research and Surveillance; PhD Candidate, Macquarie University, University of Sydney.

This piece was originally published in The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

The Conversation

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