may be spreading misinformation undermine efforts

That starts with tackling online misinformation. It will be one of the most important tasks of his presidency, and to be successful he will need to rebuild confidence and trust in science and facts.

To reach the other side and beat COVID-19, President Biden needs to convince the American public to take a vaccine. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we're not there yet. Unlike Facebook's new promise to remove anti-vax content, a COVID-19 preclearance system could help stop misinformation before it causes harm. According to Avaaz, content from the top ten websites spreading health misinformation on Facebook had almost four times as many views as equivalent content from ten leading health institutions, including the CDC. Utilizing existing proactive detection technologies, these posts would be flagged before publication for expedited human review. For example, because a disproportionate amount of harmful content can be tied back to a small number of users, platforms should implement a COVID-19 'pre-clearance system' for vaccine-related posts from highly influential accounts. And they should urge the social media companies to join this effort by signing an agreement with the administration to publish aggregate data about COVID-19 conspiracy theories gaining traction.įinally, the administration should publicly encourage platforms to implement common-sense changes to curtail the spread of vaccine-related misinformation. Just as the nation's leading cybersecurity agency created an online hub to debunk election misinformation, this effort should include a website and regular public briefings. Second, the administration should launch a public health information campaign dedicated to debunking harmful COVID-19 misinformation in real-time. Jeffrey Zients – Biden's coronavirus czar – is a former Facebook board member, so he knows first-hand the magnitude of the threats posed by this information crisis. There are specific steps they should take immediately.įirst, the Biden administration should appoint a misinformation expert to its COVID-19 task force, responsible for coordinating strategy across government agencies and holding platforms accountable to their promises. Combating misinformation must be a central feature of the Biden administration's COVID-19 response, leveraging their power to hold social media giants to account. The stakes are too high to take these companies at their word. In 2019, vaccine hesitancy fueled the worst measles outbreak in the U.S. A 2017 study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Vaccine analyzed the interactions of 2.6 million Facebook users over seven years and found the platform pushed users into echo chambers, polarized their beliefs in vaccines, and likely contributed to vaccine avoidance.

Social media giants have actively grown this crisis by their work over many years to help a small but vocal group of users spread conspiracy theories intended to undermine confidence in vaccines.

Because ending the pandemic is contingent upon getting enough people to accept a vaccine, the COVID-19 crisis cannot be solved without addressing the misinformation crisis at the same time - they are inextricably linked. Black and brown communities that have borne a disproportionate brunt of the virus are even more hesitant to get vaccinated. Nearly 40% of Americans say they aren't planning on getting vaccinated, putting us far short of the 70%-75% public health experts say will be needed to reach herd immunity and contain the pandemic. Vaccine misinformation on social media is corroding trust in science when we need it most.

May be spreading misinformation undermine efforts