In an effort to prepare for future public health crises, the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murphy officially calls on tech companies to supply research, data, and any information on COVID-19 misinformation.
Murphy submitted the Request for Information (RFI) to the Federal Register on Thursday, March 3.
"The Office of the Surgeon General requests input from interested parties on the impact and prevalence of health misinformation in the digital information environment during the COVID-19 pandemic," the request read.
Facebook, Google, Big Tech Urged To Hand Out Data
The request is centered around gathering essential data on COVID misinformation from technology platforms, especially social media sites and apps like Facebook and Twitter, as well as general search engines like Google.
Some usual examples of the misinformation being spread are quite alarming.
One myth circulating around is that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine can make the recipient magnetic. This is obviously not true and it would not take that much fact-checking to confirm its falsity. However, many still fall for myths such as this.
The data Murphy wants to access includes any aggregate data and analysis on the common misinformation in circulation, how many users were exposed to such misinformation, and the demographics of those exposed.
The Surgeon General also wants data about the technology platforms' policies related to COVID-19. This would most likely include work-from-home setups and mask mandates. Just recently, Google employees were asked to return to an office setup starting April.
First Step in Combating COVID Misinformation
The move to utilize the help of Big Tech is an essential first step in Murphy's desire to eradicate harmful health misinformation.
Last year, the surgeon general released a report on the seriousness of the spread of false COVID information. The report reflects his desire to proactively tackle the looming threat of misinformation, urging all other sectors of society to help out.
He had a separate message to media members, educators, health practitioners, and technology platforms on what to do to help out.
And help out they did.
Big Tech Initiatives Against Misinformation
The major technology platforms already have actions in place to help eradicate COVID misinformation.
Facebook already launched a campaign together with the World Health Organization (WHO). It is considered as the "biggest worldwide campaign to promote authoritative information about COVID-19 vaccines."
Google put aside $3 million to support fact-checking initiatives to counter COVID misinformation, especially surrounding vaccines. The Covid-19 Vaccine Counter-Misinformation Open Fund is designed to support journalistic efforts to spread COVID facts and fact-checking methods.
As for Twitter, it has been proactive in searching out and removing harmful COVID-19 misleading tweets.
But as of this moment, Surgeon General Murphy is asking for a little more help. The data these technology platforms can provide will certainly be crucial in crafting strategies and policies to fight COVID misinformation. Such information will enable policy-makers to understand the psychology and motivations behind the spread of false information.
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