MENLO PARK, Ca. – Facebook is preparing to crackdown on misleading health posts.
The social media company said this week that the new rules will apply to posts like miracle cures, magic weight loss pills and anti-vaccine arguments “based on unsound health claims.”
Rather than removing sensational health posts outright, Facebook will change the way they’re ranked in news feeds, so that fewer people see them; the posts will instead show up lower in news feeds.
It’s similar to what Facebook does to limit the influence of clickbait posted by publishers.
Other platforms have also been criticized for its part in spreading heath misinformation, particularly about vaccines. Facebook announced in march that it was working to reduce the amount of anti-vax content on its platforms.
Leave a Reply