After confront far-flung criticism , Facebook has unveileda transparency reportthat it ab initio remit about the most popular Emily Post on its public News Feed in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2021 . The theme offer a glimpse into how far misinformation about the covid-19 vaccinum has spread online .
As first reported by the New York Times , which publisheda bombshell exposeon Friday after obtaining a written matter of the then - unreleased story , the most - viewed connexion on Facebook between January and March was a since - updated news clause suggesting that the vaccinum may be at fault for a Florida Dr. ’s last . The link racked up nearly 54 million position during this period .
According to Facebook ’s reputation , among the top 20 most visited varlet on the political program during the first twenty-five percent was the Epoch Times , a site that routinely force misinformation about the covid-19 pandemic and far - right conspiracies such as QAnon .
Photo: Olivier Douliery (Getty Images)
On Saturday , Facebook insurance communications director Andy Stonetweetedthat the critique Facebook has present for ab initio holding the study “ was n’t unjust , ” but append that defining misinformation is a complex process :
“ News wall socket wrote about the south Florida doctor that kick the bucket . When the coroner released a cause of destruction , the Chicago Tribune appended an update to its original storey ; NYTimes did not . Would it have been correct to remove the Times story because it was COVID [ misinformation ] ? Of course not . No one is actually propose this and neither am I. But it does illustrate just how difficult it is to define misinformation . ”
Stone sound out that Facebook did n’t free the study earlier because there were “ fundamental fixes to the system ” that the society want to make . He did n’t go into further item about what those change were precisely but posteda linkto the account on Twitter . In a statement tothe Washington Post , he order one change demand fixing a proficient bug but decline to work out further .
OnTwitter , Stone pointed to “ slight differences ” between this put over paper and thesecond - one-fourth reportFacebook did publicly relinquish to begin with this hebdomad , adding that Facebook hopes to see even more forward motion in the third quarter . Facebook released its Q2 report on Aug. 18 usher the most democratic posts in the U.S. from April to June , which paint the company in a more flattering Christ Within . The Epoch Times still makes an show , its subscription page ranking among the top 10 most reckon links , but most of the top - performing posts involved memes , recipe , heartwarming stories about animals , and , for some reason , storefronts for CBD products and Christianity - theme wearing apparel .
However , whatever “ key fixes ” Facebook made between the two reports is n’t immediately well-defined . Comparing them side by side , their data format are nearly very . Facebook habituate different Logos choices to explain its findings , but its introduction of the datum itself continue unaltered . Facebook did not immediately repay Gizmodo ’s request for comment .
It appear the only reason this first report ever even saw the light of solar day was because of the backlash to Facebook pat itself on the back for its foil with the 2nd news report while burying a information curing that made it look bad . To wit , Facebook frailty chairman Guy Rosen tout the societal net as “ the far most lucid political program on the internet ” in a statement tothe Postearlier this calendar week .
“ We ’re guilty of cleaning up our house a bit before we invited company , ” Stone wrote on Twitter . “ We ’ve been criticise for that ; and again , that ’s not unjust … given the pursuit in the first version of the written report we did not release , we ’ve decided to just make it public . It ’s not gleaming , but we ’re strain to make progression . ”
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