Bahama Times

Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024

Group that spread false Covid claims doubled Facebook interactions in six months

Group that spread false Covid claims doubled Facebook interactions in six months

Revelations about World Doctors Alliance pages raise questions about platform’s efforts to control misinformation

An international pressure group that spread false and conspiratorial claims about Covid-19 more than doubled the average number of interactions it got on Facebook in the first six months of 2021 in spite of renewed efforts to curb misinformation on the platform, according to a report.

Pages owned by the World Doctors Alliance – a group of current and former medical professionals and academics from seven countries – received 617,000 interactions in June 2021, up from 255,000 in January, according to a six-month rolling average.

The figures are revealed in a report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which raises fresh questions for Facebook after the whistleblower Frances Haugen claimed that the company knew its products were damaging the mental health of teenage girls and fanning the flames of ethnic violence in Ethiopia.

The World Doctors Alliance includes prominent members who have falsely claimed Covid-19 is a hoax and that vaccines cause widespread harm. Researchers found members “used their qualifications to lend a veneer of credibility to claims that have been proven to be false and often dangerous”.


Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said: “Facebook’s attempts to control the epidemic of misleading information on its platforms are nothing more than performative PR exercises.

“It has had more than a decade to get a handle on the rampant misinformation which has flooded its platforms. But the systems in place fall a long way short of the mark, as this research clearly demonstrates.

“With each new revelation of Facebook’s institutional failure to act, we move closer to social media’s so-called ‘big tobacco moment’, when it is forced to finally take responsibility for the demonstrable harms caused by their products.”

In March 2020, the World Doctors Alliance had a combined following on Facebook of about 4,000 users. This had increased to more than 460,000 by June this year. The increase was mostly driven by the two most prominent members of the group: Dr Dolores Cahill, a former professor at University College Dublin, and Dr Scott Jensen, a former state senator from Minnesota.

Jensen drew international attention after he said extra payments for Covid patients created an incentive for doctors to inflate patient numbers, despite no evidence of fraudulent reporting, according to a USA Today factcheck. Donald Trump then amplified this claim on the campaign trail in 2020.

Cahill, who until March was the chairperson of the rightwing Eurosceptic Irish Freedom party, has claimed Covid-19 vaccines will cause widespread harm and death. Cahill has also claimed that masks and social distancing measures are unnecessary because Covid-19 can be treated with “nutrition, vitamins and hydroxychloroquine”.

British members of the group include Dr Mohammad Adil, an NHS surgeon who was suspended by the General Medical Council after claiming Covid-19 was a hoax.


Researchers took a sample of the 50 most popular posts from Alliance members, and categorised them into different narratives. They found the most popular claims were “conspiratorial in nature, implying some sort of overarching ‘master plan’ involving world governments, the media and healthcare authorities”.

The ISD also found serious shortcomings in Facebook’s factchecking programme, particularly regarding content in languages other than English.

One part of the company’s strategy for dealing with misinformation involves using third-party organisations to add context to misleading claims. However, a review of the 50 most popular mentioning the World Doctors Alliance revealed that just 13% of English-language posts containing false or misleading content carried a factcheck label.

In languages other than English, the proportion was even lower: 8% of German posts, 5% of Spanish posts and just 2% of Arabic posts.

Aoife Gallagher, a researcher at the ISD, said: “The approach to factchecking content one post at a time essentially acts as a plaster on a gushing wound. Many of the influencers in the Covid and vaccine misinformation spaces produce huge amounts of content, making it impossible for factcheckers to keep up with debunking efforts.”

The ISD called on Facebook to take stronger action on “misinformation super-spreaders”, increase resources dedicated to moderation and factchecking in languages other than English, and improve AI technology to assist with moderation.

A spokesperson for Facebook said it had removed the parent group for the World Doctors’ Alliance, World Freedom Alliance, in July, as well as removing 200m pieces of misinformation during the pandemic.

The spokesperson said: “Since the pandemic began, our goal has been to promote reliable information about Covid-19, take more aggressive action against misinformation, and encourage people to get vaccinated.”

The World Doctors Alliance did not respond to a request for comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bahama Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×