In times of immense challenge for humanity, it’s common that we see petty differences and competition put to one side. One of the biggest recipients of this often comes in the business world, when rivals join forces to overcome the problems they are facing.
This has come at the hands of some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
One of the most worrying issues regarding COVID-19 is the spread of misinformation across the web, which is causing many people to take the wrong kinds of advice.
This is why major tech firms such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter have all joined together to say they are jointly taking on fraud, misinformation, and damaging information about the virus.
The US has asked for companies to step up and make it clear that more has to be done – and this has led from an unprecedented joint statement from the largest companies in the industry.
In a joint statement, the companies said:
‘We are working closely together on COVID-19 response efforts.
We’re helping millions of people stay connected while also jointly combating fraud and misinformation about the virus, elevating authoritative content on our platforms, and sharing crucial updates in coordination with government healthcare agencies around the world.
We invite other companies to join us as we work to keep our communities healthy and safe.’
A Joint Effort to Stop Spreading Damaging Information
With more than 200,000 people in the UK members of a COVID-19 support group, it’s easy to see that people are doing more good than bad.
Still, some sites have grown a reputation for sharing damaging and dangerous information about the illness, from false cures to fake information about how to recover – or even what the virus is capable of doing to the body.
Facebook has also made it clear that they’ll be working with specific platforms, such as the NHS, to help push people in the direction of information that they can legitimately trust.
Some other platforms, such as YouTube, have started to block certain information on their platforms as it spreads damaging or untrue information about the COVID-19 situation.
Expect more to come of this in the future as companies step up and try to find ways to stop the spread of damaging information to those who need the right advice