Facebook to Launch Coronavirus Information Hub; Zuckerberg Says Activity Has Spiked
March 18 2020 - 4:06PM
Dow Jones News
By Jeff Horwitz
Facebook Inc. will roll out a coronavirus information hub at the
top of users' feeds on the platform, as the company scrambles to
adapt its products amid the global pandemic.
In a press call on Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
walked through the company's efforts to suppress misinformation,
prepare for users' mental health issues and support governmental
responses during the growing crisis.
With quarantines and social distancing causing spikes in the
usage of Facebook's products, Mr. Zuckerberg said, the gravity of
the medical and economic risks posed by the virus requires Facebook
to prioritize the public good.
"Even in the most free expression friendly traditions of the
United States you've long had the precedent that you don't allow
people to yell fire in a crowded room," he said.
Mr. Zuckerberg, who said he was himself working from home during
the call, described the strain that the pandemic has put on
Facebook. The company has cleared out all but what it considers
essentially public health and safety employees from its offices and
sent its vast army of contract content moderators home at the same
time that its products are experiencing a sustained surge of usage
surpassing what the company experiences even on New Year's Eve.
Mr. Zuckerberg said Facebook intended to prioritize certain
types of content moderation at the expense of others.
"I'm personally quite worried that isolation from people being
at home could lead to more depression and mental health issues. I
want to make sure we're ahead of that by having more people work on
suicide and self harm," he said.
The information hub will feature a persuasion campaign of
celebrities endorsing social distancing, reliable academic
research, and visualizations explaining the importance of limiting
the virus's spread, messages that Mr. Zuckerberg said "are the most
important for us to be pushing out and encouraging."
The company is already offering extensive free advertising to
the World Health Organization and governmental authorities.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 18, 2020 15:51 ET (19:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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