A family recently met a grim surprise as a Facebook ad claimed they'd contracted COVID-19 and died. Misinformation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic is prolific on social media platforms, but this story is uniquely bizarre for several reasons.
Facebook, Twitter, Google, and other tech companies have tried to take action against the spread of COVID-19 misinformation. Not all of it is nefarious in nature, but regardless of a post's intent, a viral post can be dangerous. The biggest fear is that a person who learns falsehoods about the virus from social media might rely on that information instead of vetted, confirmed advice from professional health officials. Since "flattening the curve" depends on everyone following the guidelines, the more people who deviate from it, the bigger the threat to public health.
Unfortunately, Facebook's efforts to stamp out coronavirus lies weren't enough to stop an ad from a company called FilterMax, as reported by ABC 13 news. A woman named Sarah Ancich came across one of the company's ads featuring one of her family portraits. If the video advertisement had only said her family died, that would have been bad enough. However, it went on to say her entire family died from COVID-19, save for her son, after they attended a funeral and contracted the virus there. The ad even has a segment with an actor playing a member of the woman's family, claiming that FilterMax's masks are the only reason he "narrowly escaped death". The family portrait hadn't been uploaded in years, according to Ancich, but reporters were able to find it in several places online using a reverse image search. FilterMax's ads also claim its masks are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which they are not.
Facebook Attempts to Stop Misinformation
In this case, the woman says she would have prevented this if she could have. In an interview, she says she reported the ad to no avail, but news reporters were able to get the ad taken down in all its forms, after reaching out to Facebook. The social media platform has taken a decidedly strong stance in its attempts to observe public health advice and stop people from posting potentially dangerous coronavirus lies. Per its new policies, Facebook doesn't allow ads for hand sanitizer, coronavirus cures, and products or services that could profit off of people's COVID-19 fears. It also bans pages with a consistent history of sharing pandemic-related misinformation.
Facebook has recently adopted a policy of directing people who engage with dishonest posts on the pandemic to the World Health Organization's website. It's a controversial move because many people already have misgivings about the trustworthiness of the WHO due to allegations that it allowed China to share poor information on the virus in its early days. Still, Facebook is reluctant to simply intervene and remove fake information, perhaps because it's often accused of biased moderation already.
Source: ABC 13