How Facebook stepped up its efforts amidst the Coronavirus pandemic

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By Mercy Ndegwa
 
It is safe to argue that the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is just about the biggest disruption the world has known in ages, probably only comparable to the World Wars. Thanks to COVID-19 we are together but separated by social-distance, we now work and meet loved ones virtually while we discover new passions and talents as we readjust to the new world order brought by the pandemic.
 
The necessity of social media, especially at these moments of limited mobility, cannot be gain-said, as a medium to connect, socialise and pursue a common agenda. Social media's importance as a source of information has been reinforced, even though its soft-underbelly as a purveyor of misinformation has also been exposed, and increasingly even during these COVID-19 days.
 
A recent study by NewsGuard, an organisation that sorts websites by credibility, indicates that sites publishing coronavirus misinformation had received "more than 142 times the engagement" of the World Health Organisation and the Centre for Disease Control, but shockingly, most of these engagements were for posts that had nothing to do with the virus.
 
In the wake of the pandemic, Facebook built a COVID-19 Information Centre within its app that houses authoritative information from health officials and governments. The Centre which is now accessible in over 30 countries in Africa exists at the top of everyone's Facebook app and so far more than two billion people have been directed to it.
 
Dealing with misinformation
 
With the rising cases of misinformation, it was necessary for Facebook to put in place measures to limit the spread of falsehoods around the pandemic. As a rule, Facebook does not allow content that puts people's lives at imminent risk of physical harm. Any hoaxes like those that encouraged the consumption of disinfectants as a cure for COVID-19 have automatically been taken down.
 
With the help of independent local fact-checkers, Facebook has been able to limit this kind of misinformation. To date more than 4,000 pieces of content related to COVID-19 which is false has been marked resulting in over 40 million warning labels being seen across Facebook's services. This has helped dissuade a majority of people from clicking on marked content.
 
Facebook's WhatsApp reduced the number of times that highly forwarded messages can be forwarded in a bid to limit the harmful misinformation around COVID-19.
 
Partnership with governments and health agencies
 
Recent collaborative efforts with regional governments has seen Facebook avail several of its tools on a free-to-use basis in order to provide the public with access to accurate, trustworthy and up-to-date information about the virus. For instance, the Whatsapp Business API which now allows people across several countries to get answers to the most common questions about COVID-19 from local health authorities.
 
Besides governments, Facebook has also partnered with health agencies and NGOs who are actively using its platforms to share accurate information about the situation. WHO and other authoritative sources have been moved to the top of Search especially on Instagram so people can easily find the most accurate information.

Facebook also provided educational pop-ups on top of search results such that a search for coronavirus on Facebook leads one to a pop-up that directs them to the WHO or their local health authority for the latest information.
 
Rise in social apps usage
 
The rapid spread of the virus has seen people relying heavily on social apps to stay connected with those they care about where they can't be together due to the pandemic.

For the first time ever, there are now more than 3 billion people actively using Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Messenger each month. That includes 2.6 billion people using Facebook alone, and more than 2.3 billion people using at least one of Facebook's services every day. In many of the places that have been hardest hit by the virus, messaging volume has increased by more than 50%, and voice and video calling have more than doubled across Messenger and WhatsApp.

In Italy, for example, there has been up to 70% more time spent across Facebook apps, with Instagram and Facebook Live views doubling in one week, while group video calling has increased by over 1,000% in March.

Video presence has of late emerged as a critical part of the private social platform with more people seeking to connect via video calling, video rooms and live stream. In response, Facebook recently launched a number of new product improvements in order to improve social uses of the video presence.

As the most popular end-to-end encrypted calling service, Whatsapp doubled the size of its video calls from 4 to 8 so that users can include more of their loved ones, or larger groups together on calls.

For video rooms, Facebook recently announced a completely new product called Messenger Rooms where one can create a room for any activity or event they want, send a link to their friends or have them discover their room on Facebook, and they can drop by and hang out for a bit.

Facebook also launched Messenger for Kids, a video-chat and messaging app that helps children connect with friends and family in a fun, parent-controlled space.

Support for small businesses and aid to faith-based organizations
Covid-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on SMBs and local economies across Africa. Facebook recently availed all its economic impact programmes virtually to equip thousands of SMBs across the continent with digital marketing skills needed to stay open and acquire new customers in the wake of COVID-19.
 
Faith-based communities are also grappling with the unexpected challenges in serving their members digitally and can now operate with more ease by using resources and tools launched by Facebook that are designed to help faith groups stay connected and engaged as they maintain social distance.

All in all, these are challenging times that call for concerted efforts to fight and defeat Coronavirus and social media users have a big responsibility of playing their part to stay safe, informed, to protect others and support official initiatives to stop Coronavirus dead on its tracks.
 
The writer is Facebook Head of Public Policy for East and Horn of Africa