Instagram on Thursday said that it will block search results for hashtags that return false information to discourage people from getting vaccinated. Facebook-owned, Instagram announced this at an event for press in San Francisco.
“If the hashtag was #vaccines1234, if it contained a high proportion of known vaccine misinformation, we would block that hashtag entirely,” said Karina Newton, Instagram’s global head of public policy
The “known vaccine misinformation” has been debunked by the World Health Organization and the posts with confirmed false information won’t display any search results. Right now, Facebook is under pressure to remove anti-vaccine propaganda from its network of sites, where it is said that the algorithm has helped to create large audiences for the hoaxes.
Furthermore, Instagram is also planning to introduce a pop-up message for people who search for details regarding vaccine to high-quality information. The company also added that the wording of the message is yet to be finalised.
“It’s going to take some time to continue the work on it,” Newton said.
Since the process is in the initial stage, it might take some time to get rid of all. Moreover, Instagram is also building a tool to appeal to content moderation decisions. For example if your post is removed, you can request the company for review, in this case, the post will be sent different moderator for review. In case, if they reverse it, your post will be restored, if not you will be informed.