Instagram to remove misinformation related to COVID-19

Instagram is taking several measures to ensure that no misinformation related to novel coronavirus is spread. The Facebook-owned photo-video-sharing app will not only remove harmful content related to COVID-19 but also highlight resources from global health organisations.

When a user searches for any term related to coronavirus on Instagram, the platform will show resources from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

Instagram has also teamed up with fact-checkers to review posts related to COVID-19. Other preventive measures include blocking and restricting hashtags that spread misinformation, and banning ads exploiting the situation.

“Finally, we’re thinking through a longer term solution to help connect people searching COVID-19 related terms with credible information. In the meantime, we’re showing the accounts of leading health organisations in these searches to better connect people to credible resources,” Instagram added.

Instagram’s parent company Facebook said that it had also suspended and blocked people from running ads trying to exploit the situation by claiming that their product could cure the disease.