UK govt, social media networks agree measures to tackle COVID-19 vaccine disinformation

The UK government and leading social media platforms have agreed on a set of new measures to tackle the spread of disinformation and misinformation related to vaccines against COVID-19, according to a joint press release published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the Department of Health and Social Care.

Ministers have held a virtual roundtable with representatives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google, and the social media giants agreed to respond quicker to anti-vaccine misinformation and disinformation and gave a commitment that no profits should be made from such posts, according to the press release.

"So I welcome this new commitment from social media giants not to profit from or promote flagged anti-vax content, given that making money from this dangerous content would be wrong," Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said in a press release on Sunday.

Government officials also raised concerns about the length of time that misleading or false information remains on the social media platforms before it is deleted, according to the press release.

In addition to tackling misleading information, social media networks will also work with public health bodies to ensure that "authoritative messages" about vaccine safety are spread as widely as possible, the government said.

The UK Department of Health registered 20,572 new positive tests on Sunday, taking the country's case total since the start of the pandemic to 1.19 million. The country's death toll currently stands at 49,044, after 156 new deaths were registered on Sunday.

(ANI)

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