The figures were released for the first time in Facebook’s inaugural transparency report for the Australian Communications and Media Authority. They show the public the vast extent of COVID-19 related misinformation that spread on Facebook’s platform last year and gives insight into how the company will take action to remove harmful content. The company said that as of May,it had removed 18 million posts in total.
ACMA defines misinformation as false or misleading information that is likely to cause harm,while disinformation is considered false or misleading information that is distributed by users via spam and bots.
Head of public policy at Facebook Australia Josh Machin said pushing back against misinformation was essential for democracy.
“The new Australia-specific commitments contained in this report are in addition to the significant global efforts that Facebook already undertakes to combat disinformation and misinformation,” he said in a blog post. “Pushing back on misinformation is a constant task,part of the essential process of open debate in a democratic society.”
The report is one of the many requirements of Facebook undera voluntary misinformation and disinformation code of practice which was made public in February. The code was created by industry group DIGI and has been signed by Google,Microsoft,Tik-Tok,Twitter,Redbubble and Facebook and is overseen by the Australian media regulator.
Facebook’s decision to opt into the misinformation code came at a time when it had decided to temporarily pull all local news content from its platform. The move resulted in Facebook inadvertently taking down posts from health-related government pages and was considered a move that could exacerbate the spread of misinformation online. News content was restored after the government agreed to concessions related to media bargaining laws.
All signatories are required to publish information for users on what measures they have in place and will release an annual report on their efforts. The reports are expected to be made public later this week.