Facebook: bug in the anti-spam system blocked reliable content about Coronavirus

Earlier this week, dozens of reports about Facebook shares receiving the “seal” of spam began to appear, despite being from recognized and reliable sources. As expected, many of the news that were blocked were related to the subject that is on the agenda, coronavirus (COVID-19).

According to one of Facebook’s top executives, Guy Rosen, this problem was exclusively related to a bug in the automatic monitoring system. Rosen guaranteed that these problems were in no way related to the management of the company’s human resources.

It looks like an anti-spam rule at FB is going haywire. Facebook sent home content moderators yesterday, who generally can't WFH due to privacy commitments the company has made. We might be seeing the start of the ML going nuts with less human oversight. https://t.co/XCSz405wtR
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) March 17, 2020

Facebook acted quickly and fixed the bug in “record time”

Shortly after reporting that the Facebook team was already fixing the problem, Guy Rosen confirmed that the bug was identified and fixed. In addition, all publications that were blocked incorrectly were restored, pointing out that it affected content on various topics and not exclusively on COVID-19.

We’ve restored all the posts that were incorrectly removed, which included posts on all topics – not just those related to COVID-19. This was an issue with an automated system that removes links to abusive websites, but incorrectly removed a lot of other posts too.
— Guy Rosen (@guyro) March 18, 2020

Last January, Facebook announced that they would tighten their grip on the spread of fake news about Coronavirus, joining Google, LinkedIne, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube in this difficult battle.

Despite the various measures put in place, a recent report published by Ranking Digital Rights concluded that Facebook’s current approach will not be effective. According to the company, the measures put in place will not be able to eliminate the spread of fake news and incorrect information about COVID-19.

Lizzie Kristina

Founder of global viral social media sensations Overheard in Waitrose and Sellotape Selfies at age just 21, Lizzie is best known for her unique creative flare, social media influence and highly skilled approach as a digital marketing specialist. Editor-in-Chief of ‘TechGrits’.

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