Facebook put coronavirus misinformation warnings on about 40 million posts in March

Facebook.
(Image credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Facebook has announced a new policy surrounding coronavirus misinformation on its platform after applying warning labels to tens of millions of posts last month alone.

The social media platform on Thursday said that in March, it put warning labels on roughly 40 million posts containing coronavirus misinformation based on ratings from fact-checkers. "When people saw those warning labels, 95 percent of the time they did not go on to view the original content," Facebook said. Additionally, Facebook disclosed that it removed "hundreds of thousands of pieces of misinformation that could lead to imminent physical harm," such as "harmful claims like drinking bleach cures the virus."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.