Facebook suspends anti-masking group for spreading misinformation COVID-19

Facebook has removed one of the largest anti-masking groups on its platform for violating its policies against disclosure of misinformation about COVID-19.

The About section of the public group Unmasking America! – which had over 9,600 members – he described it as “here to spread the TRUTH about the masks!” He made several claims that have been widely discredited about masks that obstruct the flow of oxygen and have a negative psychological impact. “It is a psychological anchor for repression, slavery, and cognitive obedience. When you wear a mask, you are complicit in declaring all humans as dangerous, infectious and threatening, “the publication stated.

It is one of many groups that are easily found on a Facebook “unmask” search. Some of the groups are private, which means that a group administrator must approve new members before they can join. But the issue is the same: Groups oppose public health intervention promoted by medical experts. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear masks in all public areas, which should limit the spread of the virus. These Facebook groups are for people who don’t want to wear masks, and there are plenty of them.

The Facebook action came after a consultation about the group of The edge. “We have clear policies against promoting harmful misinformation about COVID 19 and we have removed this group while reviewing the others,” Facebook spokesman Dami Oyefeso said in an email.

According to Facebook’s rules, if a group repeatedly shares fake news, the platform will show that the group’s content is lower on users’ news sources and will stop suggesting that people join the group to slow its growth. .

The Unmasking America group page included photo posts of members wearing masks stamped with the slogan Make America Great Again or other references to President Trump, generally as a way to protest the requirements of the masks. Other posts described experiences related to shops requiring masks, and many posters asked how to claim an “exemption” from the mask rules.

An image of a “Face Mask Free Card” issued by the “Breathing Freedom Agency” was prominently linked; one poster advised others to “print, laminate, and use it.” The number is legitimate. There is no such government agency, and law enforcement officials have warned that such cards, which use a version of the Justice Department’s eagle logo, “have no force of law.” The New York Times reported.

Private groups include the “Million Unmasked March” group, which has more than 7,800 members. “Parents are powerful! We are a group of moms, dads, grandparents, uncles, aunts, teachers, friends, nurses and anyone who is concerned about our children wearing masks to go to school in the fall, “read the” about “section of the group. “We believe that our children who wear masks to go to school are physically and psychologically harmful. Join us to say NO MORE MASKS!” And the group “Unmasking Fear”, which has about 400 members, is promoting a August 1 event “rallying against mandatory masks”.

Medical experts, however, say there is very little medical reason to prevent most people from wearing cloth face covers when they go out into the public. About two dozen states now have some sort of public mask requirement. Even President Trump, who has largely resisted wearing a mask in public, tweeted Monday that it was “patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance yourself.”

Facebook has taken several steps to try to stem the deluge of misinformation about the coronavirus on its platforms, with mixed results. A scathing report in April from human rights group Avaaz found that 100 misinformations about the virus on Facebook were shared more than 1.7 million times and viewed approximately 117 million times. Facebook announced on April 16 that it was adding a warning tag when a person liked, commented on, or reacted to a post with false information about the coronavirus. Also in April, the company said it was removing “pseudoscience” from the list of categories that advertisers could use to target potential customers “to avoid potential ad abuse.”

In May, the company released a report describing its use of artificial intelligence in conjunction with human data verifiers and moderators to enforce standards in its community. According to the report, in April, Facebook placed warning labels on 50 million parts related to COVID-19 and, since March 1, removed more than 2.5 million parts related to sales of masks, hand sanitizers and COVID-19. test kits