In the United States, 14 state attorneys general have begun questioning Facebook about its handling of spreaders of false information about corona vaccines. They are “extremely concerned” about the latest reports that the world’s largest social network has lists of members who are not subject to certain rules, it said in a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday. The question is whether the top twelve main disseminators of disinformation related to the pandemic are on this list. Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the revelations of the former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, new algorithms are increasingly polarizing political camps out of pure profitability: their anger leads users to keep scrolling, which increases the reach of advertisers. Facebook has set up a system for this that exempts high-profile users from the rules against targeted false claims about Covid-19 and vaccines.
Misinformation about the virus, treatment methods and vaccines quickly spread on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube during the corona pandemic. Researchers and legislators have long accused Facebook of failing to control harmful content on its platforms.