Facebook Launches Information Centres to Combat COVID-19 Misinformation in Africa

Facebook is expanding its COVID-19 Information Centre to 17 more countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Information Centres form part of Facebook’s effort to help the global fight against COVID-19 by providing people with the latest news and information from trusted health authorities as well as resources and tips to stay healthy and support their family and community.

The COVID-19 Information Center is featured at the top of News Feed, that provides a central place for people to keep informed about the Coronavirus.

It includes real-time updates from national health authorities and global organisations such as the World Health Organization, as well as helpful articles, videos and posts about social distancing and preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Facebook users can opt in to follow the center to get notifications and see updates in their News Feed from official government health authorities.

Commenting on the latest initiative, Facebook’s Head of Public Policy, Africa, Kojo Boakye said the company has built the information centers, in collaboration with national health partners, to ensure that people can get access to information from trusted health sources.

‘The launch of the COVID-19 Information Center on Facebook in more than 17 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa aligns with our commitment to making accurate, timely information about the pandemic accessible to all communities.” said Boakye.

The center has already launched in South Africa, it will now be expanded to Kenya, Benin,  Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, and Chad.

Facebook’s initiative has also been expanded to Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, DRC Congo and Togo 

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This comes two days after Facebook product, WhatsApp announced that it will be limiting forwaded messages to arrest the spread of COVID-19 misinformation.

Facebook as a company has been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in the past few years over a variety of issues including the infamous Cambridge Analytica Scandal which involved mining of user data without consent to craft political messages.

Facebook has since announced a ban on partial ban on political adverts.

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