Facebook has announced that it will revise its news feed in order to prevent misleading health content from showing up prominently. This was stated in a blog post published on the social media’s newsroom site on July 2, 2019. The action will downgrade posts that contain exaggerated health claims or aim at selling products based on health claims.
According to Travis Yeh, a Product Manager at Facebook, most users will not notice significant changes in their news feed. The identification of new posts with exaggerated content is based on phrases that are often found in sensational health claims.
Previously, YouTube had taken similar actions to ban advertizing for “miracle cures” or similar content from video recommendations.
- Addressing Sensational Health Claims, Travis Yeh, Facebook Newsroom, July 2, 2019.
- Continuing our work to improve recommendations on YouTube, YouTube Blog Post, January 25, 2019.
Also of Interest
- Facebook wants to limit the reach of bogus medical ‘cures’ by treating them like spam, Abby Ohlheiser, Washington Post, July 2, 2019.
