New Interview with Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, and founder of Facebook, recently appeared in an interview where he shed light on these posts. The interview was taken by Gayle King from CBS News. In the interview, Gayle King brought up the fact that many were displeased by the amount of misinformation that became viral on the platform. He asked Mark Zuckerberg what he thought would be a good approximation for the number of people who had viewed those posts.  Mark Zuckerberg had replied in a fashion that almost seem to avoid the main question by stating that he could give a sizeable accurate number based on the number of posts Facebook had taken action against. He further went on to say that Facebook has removed 18 million posts with COVID misinformation. 

Contrasting message compared to previous statements

In the video that was released, Mark Zuckerberg agreed with Gayle King and said that it was a matter that was not to be taken likely and that he could understand the problem posed by such posts. However, while it is comforting that action is being taken against the spread of false information and propaganda, this was a contrasting stance compared to the ones he had taken in previous interviews.  In past interviews, he had stated that it was against Facebook’s policy to take down posts even if they had seen them and believed they contained harmful information. 

Facebook is not 100% rid of COVID misinformation yet

In the interview with Gayle King, Mark Zuckerberg stated that while Facebook has removed 18 million posts with COVID misinformation, he wasn’t sure if the platform was free from the blight of such posts.  He went on to say that mistakes could have been made and was sure there are still fields and areas in which improvement could be made. However, he had a tone of reassurance while saying that the social media giant was actively using the best resources, systems, and personnel to tackle the issue. 

Facebook was targeted by similar criticism in past

The misinformation regarding COVID – 19 and the pandemic has not been the first time the company has been under fire for the spread of harmful and misleading information. In recent times, the platform has seen a massive surge in posts that spread information against the usage of masks, vaccines, and the need to follow COVID -19 guidelines. The statistics that have been analyzed so far seem to indicate that there has been an alarmingly large amount of misinformation that has regularly proliferated the website. Many prominent celebrities had condemned such posts on Facebook and had even gone as far as to delete their accounts in the past.  The President of the United States of America had previously made a statement that Facebook’s posts were influencing people to the point of “Killing them.” He later reformed the statement to say that he meant the misinformation was killing them and not Facebook. 

Steps taken by Facebook to help get over the pandemic

Apart from Facebook removing 18 million posts with COVID misinformation, Mark Zuckerberg also stated that there was an exclusive section on Facebook where people could find “Authoritative information” about COVID -19. He also revealed that more than 2 billion people had viewed that information. The platform also has a vaccine finder search tool that has been used by at least 3.3 million Americans to schedule appointments for their vaccines. 

Full Interview to be aired soon

The video of Mark Zuckerberg stating that Facebook had removed 18 million posts with COVID misinformation was a clip from the interview that is yet to be aired. The full version of the interview is scheduled to go live on air this Thursday. 

Covid Update

[wpi_designer_button text=’Twitter Suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene For Covid Misinformation’ link=’https://leedaily.com/2021/07/21/twitter-suspends-marjorie-taylor-greene-for-covid-misinformation/’ style_id=” icon=’play’ target=’_blank’] [wpi_designer_button text=’Number of new COVID-19 Cases Update’ link=’https://leedaily.com/2021/05/14/corona-virus/’ style_id=” icon=’play’ target=’_blank’] [wpi_designer_button text=’Coronavirus Vaccine Updates’ link=’https://leedaily.com/2021/05/20/coronavirus-vaccine-updates/’ style_id=” icon=’play’ target=’_blank’] [wpi_designer_button text=’Delta Mutation Spreads in Texas, but the number of new COVID-19′ link=’https://leedaily.com/2021/07/02/delta-mutation-spreads-in-texas-number-new-covid-19-cases-stays-steady/’ style_id=” icon=’play’ target=’_blank’] [wpi_designer_button text=’Bill Maher Test Corona Positive ‘Fully Vaccinated’ link=’https://leedaily.com/2021/05/15/bill-maher-test-corona-positive/’ style_id=” icon=’play’ target=’_blank’]

1 New Interview with Mark Zuckerberg2 Contrasting message compared to previous statements3 Facebook is not 100% rid of COVID misinformation yet4 Facebook was targeted by similar criticism in past5 Steps taken by Facebook to help get over the pandemic6 Full Interview to be aired soon7 Covid Update