Facebook Bans Misleading Coronavirus Ads

Photo Credit: Alex Haney / Unsplash

Facebook is cracking down on misleading ads about the novel coronavirus.

Identified in late December, COVID-19 was initially linked to a wholesale animal and fish market in Wuhan, the largest city in central China.

To date, the disease has claimed more than 2,760 lives across the globe.

And it’s seeping into social media, where, between panicked conversation and fake news, users are also being hoodwinked by shockvertising.

Facebook, however, is fighting back.

“We recently implemented a policy to prohibit ads that refer to the coronavirus and create a sense of urgency, like implying a limited supply, or guaranteeing a cure or prevention,” the company told Business Insider.

“We also have policies for surfaces like Marketplace that prohibit similar behavior,” according to the statement.

This move comes after Reuters joined Facebook’s fact-checking crusade, volunteering to comb through photos, videos, headlines, and other content—in the run-up to the U.S. election and beyond—to verify information in English and Spanish.

The global news provider will then publish its findings on a specially created blog.

Other tech firms are experiencing a surge of coronavirus activity: Amazon this week warned third-party sellers against price gouging for face masks, amid skyrocketing demand.

You could, instead, opt for a face-recognition respirator mask—all the rage among anxiety-stricken folks who care about privacy. From designer Danielle Baskin, the custom product mirrors the bottom half of your face (just enough to trick your phone into unlocking).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first U.S. case of novel coronavirus in January: a Washington state man in his 30s who had recently returned from Wuhan.

Symptoms include fever, cough, and trouble breathing—which are also handily associated with chest infection, bronchitis, pneumonia, and a number of other diagnoses.

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