Among the so-called fake news , we saw publications about the supposed drugs for the disease, catastrophic audios that predict tragedies, videos that deny the existence of the virus and deaths, data without contrasting scientific results and with dubious sources, videos with interviews with “experts” offering recommendations and other news that question the effectiveness of the use of masks and social distance.To combat this poor health service, verification companies and companies that have social networks are committed to taking measures to prevent this false news from circulating among the population.The coordinator of Maldita Tecnologia, Naiara Bellio, comments on how social networks worked to combat fake news related to the pandemic: «the first step that everyone took was to provide access to official sources from all parties, that is, when they searched for keywords or interact with certain types of content they had the profile of the World Health Organization (WHO) or the Ministry of Health on hand to read the verified information. This has not worked because misinformation has started to grow and they had to take more restrictive measures, ”says Bellio.
For now, Facebook and Twitter have been taking steps to prevent the circulation of fake news, but other platforms like YouTube have yet to take a position. In fact, the video platform uses a content recommendation algorithm system that generally displays videos and videos with unverified information.
Without a doubt, reflecting on fake news is an outstanding task that will require the commitment of many and the participation of large organizations, governments and companies.
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