It’s not just you: A Facebook glitch marked authentic coronavirus news as spam
Social platforms and big tech companies have stepped up amid the coronavirus pandemic, moving aggressively to try and combat misinformation and put expert, reliable sources front and center for users. And people have been using Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and various other platforms to share community information, offer help, and shame their peers and parents into social distancing.
But over the past day or so, there was an unexplained spike in removals and flagging of posts relating to the coronavirus and the illness it causes, COVID-19. Users on Facebook and Twitter reported that innocuous, informative, or authentic news posts about the outbreak were being flagged as spam or removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Facebook's VP of Integrity, Guy Rosen, assured users via Twitter on Tuesday evening U.S. time that the cause was "a bug in an anti-spam system," with a fix on the way, which he confirmed in a later tweet.
You May Also Like
He also denied that the pattern was a result of "changes in [the] content moderator workforce." Those teams, which are largely composed of contract workers, were finally sent home from offices on Tuesday, as part of social distancing efforts to slow the spread of the virus.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
While some users have speculated that there may be a coordinated effort to report coronavirus coverage, which some Trump supporters falsely perceive as a campaign by "the media" to undermine the president, there's currently no evidence for this.
Mashable has reached out to Facebook for comment and clarification, and will update with any response.
Caitlin is Mashable's Australian Editor. She has written for The Guardian, Junkee, and any number of plucky little music and culture publications that were run on the smell of an oily rag and have since been flushed off the Internet like a dead goldfish by their new owners. She also worked at Choice, Australia's consumer advocacy non-profit and magazine, and as such has surprisingly strong opinions about whitegoods. She enjoys big dumb action movies, big clever action movies, cult Canadian comedies set in small towns, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Replacements, smoky mezcal, revenge bedtime procrastination, and being left the hell alone when she's reading.
