Here’s Why Facebook Has Been Marking Posts About The Coronavirus As Spam
People on Facebook sharing links to articles published by reputable news sites about COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, are having their posts flagged as spam. Many people complained on social media that they had received notifications that posts with links to articles by news publications went against Facebook’s Community Standards.
On Tuesday evening, Facebook’s vice president of integrity said the issue was a bug and the posts that had been flagged would be returning soon.
Something really weird is happening on @Facebook. A bunch of coronavirus posts from good sources like Atlantic and Politico are being flagged as spam. Happening to me and others. I’m the moderator of a huge community group, vetting medical info 15 hours a day. FB, don’t do this!
Posts linking to articles published by BuzzFeed News, Politico, the Atlantic, and the Sydney Morning Herald about the coronavirus were all flagged.
Posted @ginarush’s piece from the other day along with a comment about my own experiences on Facebook. Today I was notified that my post had violated the community standards of spam 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃
Users were told that the reach of their post had been limited so “no one else can see your post.”
Facebook is flagging all coronavirus-related web links as spam and breaching community standards. Happening right around the world https://t.co/8reJQ8OZGC
Facebook’s vice president of integrity, Guy Rosen, confirmed the bug on Twitter, rebuking speculation on Twitter by the company’s former security chief, Alex Stamos, that the error was a result of “less human oversight” of an anti-spam machine learning algorithm.
@alexstamos We’re on this – this is a bug in an anti-spam system, unrelated to any changes in our content moderator workforce. We’re in the process of fixing and bringing all these posts back. More soon.
Facebook told its workers Monday to work from home if possible. On Tuesday, the company told its contract moderators not to come into the office; however, they are barred from working from home due to privacy concerns.
When asked for comment, a Facebook spokesperson directed BuzzFeed News to Rosen’s tweet.
Facebook has previously launched a number of initiatives to combat misinformation and spam about the coronavirus, including allowing health authorities to flag fake news and showing users an information module when searching for information about the virus.
Josh Russell / Via Twitter People on Facebook sharing links to articles published by reputable news sites about COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, are having their posts flagged as spam. Many people complained on social media that they had received notifications that posts with links to articles by…
