Facebook points out that anti-vaccine militant groups have been endorsed as 'experts'



On August 17, 2021, the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a non-profit organization that monitors the transparency of large IT companies, said, 'Radio violent organizations are expanding their power on Facebook and disseminating false information about anti-vaccines. I released a report. In the report, TTP points out that instead of cracking down on misinformation, Facebook has given it certification as a credible expert opinion on misinformation.

Facebook's New Toxic Stew: Militia Groups and Vaccine Conspiracies | Tech Transparency Project

https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/facebooks-new-toxic-stew-militia-groups-and-vaccine-conspiracies

Facebook Is Helping Militias Spread Vaccine Disinformation and Calling Them'Experts'
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4av8wn/facebook-is-helping-militias-spread-vaccine-disinformation-and-calling-them-experts

In April 2021, Facebook introduced a mechanism called 'Group Expert'. This is a feature that allows Facebook Group admins to certify and award certification badges to members who have a wealth of expertise and disseminate reliable information.



'Facebook empowers group managers who are disseminating false information about the new coronavirus vaccine to grant Group Experts,' TTP said in a new report. I did. According to TTP, some admins authorized by Facebook to use Group Expert have repeatedly posted posts that encourage anti-vaccine people to uprising.

One of the radical groups that TTP is particularly concerned about is the group called 'US Freedom Fighters,' which has already gained more than 4,500 members since it was formed in late April. The group's managers have been confirmed to spread false information, such as sharing a post suggesting that 'the delta variant of the new coronavirus is false' even though Group Expert is allowed to be granted. rice field.



Katie Paul, the representative of TTP, said on the issue of Group Expert, 'When this system was introduced in April, Facebook was not aware of issues such as vaccine hoaxes, but it was malicious. We've created a new tool that could be abused by one user. Disseminating false vaccine misinformation as expertise is literally a life-threatening problem. '

Another militant group, Southwest Arkansas Militia, said on July 23, 'The'quarantine camp'for non-vaccinated people is often talked about. We are ready to counter this. Do you want to? '



The conspiracy theory that the US government will set up a camp to isolate non-vaccinated people has been completely denied by the fact-checking site PolitiFact. Nonetheless, Southwest Arkansas Militia's post, which hinted at the establishment of a 'quarantine camp,' was simply labeled as linking to the Coronavirus Infection Information Center, including deletions and account freezes. No action was taken.

'We are very worried about the expansion of militant groups just because Facebook promised to crack down on US-based militants in 2020. Now these groups are spreading conspiracy on vaccines. It has become a central figure in the above, 'he said, oozing a sense of crisis.

in Web Service, Posted by log1l_ks