executive summary - avaaz › facebook_coronavirus... · facebook is an epicentre of coronavirus...

Contents

1 Executive Summary2 Key Findings3 How Facebook Can Inoculate Users Against Coronavirus Misinformation4 Methodology and Data Set5 Annex

Executive SummaryAs the coronavirus crisis started to spread acrossthe globe the World Health Organization (WHO)warned that ldquowersquore not just fighting an epidemicwere fighting an infodemicrdquo It cautioned that ldquofakenews spreads faster and more easily than the virusand it is just as dangerousrdquo

In response to the crisis Facebook CEO MarkZuckerberg and other company executives launcheda media blitz to publicize the companyrsquos expandedefforts to stop the spread of COVID-19misinformation Facebook announced that theseefforts had been ldquoquickrdquo ldquoaggressiverdquo andldquoexecutedquite wellrdquo

In February our team began detecting andmonitoring widespread misinformation aboutCOVID-19 online In March our investigative teamset out to analyse and assess the efficacy ofFacebookrsquos efforts to combat this ldquoinfodemicrdquo on itsmain platform

For this study of the thousands of pieces ofcoronavirus-related misinformation content beingshared on Facebook we decided to examine over100 pieces of misinformation content in six differentlanguages about the virus that were rated false andmisleading by reputable independent fact-checkersand could cause public harm

We found that millions of the platformrsquos users arestill being put at risk of consuming harmfulmisinformation on coronavirus at a large scaleRepresenting only the tip of the misinformationiceberg we found that the pieces of content wesampled and analysed were shared over 17 milliontimes on Facebook and viewed an estimated 117million times

Even when taking into consideration thecommendable efforts Facebookrsquos anti-misinformation team has applied to fight thisinfodemic the platformrsquos current policies wereinsufficient and did not protect its users

Of the 41 of this misinformation content thatremains on the platform without warning labels65 has been debunked by partners of Facebookrsquosvery own fact-checking program Throughout thetimeframe of our research this content remained

on the platform despite the companyrsquos promise toissue ldquostrong warning labelsrdquo for misinformationflagged by fact-checkers and other third partyentities and remove misinformation that couldcontribute to imminent physical harm

Secondly Avaaz found that there are significantdelays in Facebookrsquos implementation of its anti-misinformation policies These delays are especiallytroubling because they result in millions of usersseeing harmful misinformation content about thecoronavirus before the platform labels it with a factcheck and warning screen or removes it Specificallywe found that it can take up to 22 days for theplatform to downgrade and issue warning labels onsuch content giving ample time for it to go viral

Our analysis also indicates that Italian and Spanish-speaking users may be at greater risk ofmisinformation exposure Facebook has not yetissued warning labels on 68 of the Italian-language content and 70 of Spanish-languagecontent we examined compared to 29 of English-language content

The scale of this ldquoinfodemicrdquo along with Facebooksreluctance to retroactively notify and providecorrections to every user exposed to harmfulmisinformation about the coronavirus is threateningefforts to ldquoflatten the curverdquo across the world andcould potentially put lives at risk

In a conversation with members of Facebookrsquosmisinformation team on 13 April 2020 we werestrongly encouraged by unprecedentedcommitments from Facebook to institute retroactivealerts to fight coronavirus misinformation animportant and necessary first step that couldpotentially save lives

To ensure that content that could cause imminentphysical harm to Facebook users was speedilyremoved by the platform we shared with thecompany on 8 April 2020 a list of misinformationposts that we believe violate its policies andrecommended that all be removed In responseFacebook has as of 14 April 2020 taken down 17of the posts we flagged cumulating 24 millionestimated views

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

How Facebook can Flatten the Curve ofthe Coronavirus InfodemicStudy indicates Facebook is rife with bogus cures and conspiracy theories that remain onthe platform long enough to put millions of people at risk

April 15 2020

Summary of Key Findings of the Analysed Sample

Facebook is an epicentre of coronavirusmisinformation and the platform must domore to protect its users from this infodemic

The 104 coronavirus-related pieces ofmisinformation content analysed in thisreport have reached over 117 millionestimated views even though thissample represents only the tip of theiceberg

Of the 41 of this misinformationcontent that remains on the platformwithout warning labels 65 had beendebunked by partners of Facebookrsquos veryown fact-checking program

Facebookrsquos current anti-misinformationefforts remain slow and insufficient in limitingthe spread of coronavirus misinformationeven when the content is flagged by theplatformrsquos very own fact-checking partners

It can take up to 22 days for theplatform to downgrade and issuewarning labels on false content evenwhen Facebookrsquos fact-checking partnersas well as the World Health Organizationand local health authorities move at asignificant pace to issue corrections

These delays mean that millions of userssee interact with and share themisinformation content before it islabeled andor removed

Italian Spanish and Portuguese-speakingusers appear to receive significantly fewerwarning labels from Facebook and hence areat greater risk of being exposed tomisinformation

Over half (51) of non-Englishmisinformation content had no warninglabels

29 of fact-checked English-languagemisinformation content analysed as ofApril 7th 2020 was found without clearwarning labels from Facebook

But our sample indicates Facebookremains significantly less effective inmoderating COVID-19 misinformation inItalian Spanish and Portuguese

Coronavirus misinformation content mutatesand spreads faster than Facebookrsquos currentsystem can track it

One effective misinformation story canmutate infect and then lodge into andremain across hundreds of Facebookgroups and pages without detection

For example a harmfulmisinformation post that claimedthat one way to rid the body of thevirus is to drink a lot of water andgargle with water salt or vinegarwas shared over 31k times beforeeventually being taken down afterAvaaz flagged it for Facebook Butthe other 2611 clones of that falseand misleading post remain on theplatform with over 92246interactions Most of these clonedposts have no warning labels fromFacebook

8

9

Some of the most egregious falsehoods promoted by the content examined in this study include

FALSE CLAIM

ldquoBlack people are resistant to Coronavirusrdquo

The false claim that those with black skin are moreresistant to the coronavirus

3604 best available Interactions

112830 estimated views

10

FALSE CLAIM

ldquoGood News Coronavirus is destroyed by ChlorineDioxiderdquo

The false claim that chlorine dioxide cures the virus(6368 best available Interactions and 199362estimated views)



11

FALSE CLAIM

ldquoVice President Pence urges those withCoronavirus to go to the Policerdquo

(The tweet in the image is fake Vice PresidentPence did not tweet this)

The false claim that Vice President Mike Penceadvised those diagnosed with the virus to go to thenearest police station



12

13

FALSE CLAIM

ldquoHairdryers could be used for coronaviruspreventionldquo

The false claim that using hot air from a hair dryerwould fight the virus


2600000 Facebook views

14

FALSE CLAIM

ldquoVirus can be cured by one bowl of freshly boiledgarlic waterldquo

The false claim that the virus can be cured withgarlic boiled in hot water



15

Although Facebook has taken a number ofcommendable steps to fight the COVID-19infodemic such as providing the WHO with freeadvertising and promoting authoritative content tomillions of users through the COVID-19 hub ourfindings raise the question of whether the companyis doing all that it can and must do to protect itsusers Our findings suggest that the platform mustadopt stronger steps to fight misinformation toremain in alignment with official statements it hasmade to the public about its efforts to fightcoronavirus-related misinformation

Notably Facebook still has an opportunity to ldquoflattenthe curverdquo of this ldquoinfodemicrdquo After consultation withindustry experts academics doctors and legislatorsaround the world Avaaz recommends thatFacebook urgently

ldquoCorrect the Recordrdquo This means that everyuser who has been exposed to disinformationandor misinformation should be alerted andprovided with independently fact-checkedcorrections

Start with ldquoCorrecting the recordrdquo forcoronavirus misinformation Facebook canimmediately start by retroactively sending anotification and a correction from the WHO theCenter for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) andor credible independent fact-checkers to every user who interacted withharmful misinformation posts related toCOVID-19 before Facebook moderatorsdetected and labeled the content as false orremoved it

Scale up moderation and fact-checkingcapacities and continue to expand its workwith civil society researchers Facebook mustbring its moderation capacities to scalethroughout the world to swiftly detect and towork with fact-checkers to aggressively fact-check downgrade and issue strong warninglabels on misinformation content before it

goes viral Facebook must also share moredetailed information about the reach of falseand misleading content on its platform thespeed at which the company detects andremoves this misinformation and other keydata to ensure researchers can work with theplatform to innovate better solutions to thesechallenges

Findings from a new academic study prove thatCorrect the Record can cut belief inmisinformation andor disinformation by anaverage of 50 percent and by as much as 61percent Avaaz believes that Facebook can be atrailblazer in the fight against misinformationand potentially save lives by implementing thissolution in full

Failing to implement the recommendations above toquickly and effectively quarantine coronavirusmisinformation means that there will continue to belarge numbers of individuals who will be exposed tothis harmful content on the platform believe itnever receive a correction and thus act upon themisinformation putting themselves and thosearound them at risk It also means that life-savingservices provided by the WHO local healthauthorities and the doctors and nurses who are onthe frontlines of this crisis will continue to becomemore difficult as unknown numbers of social mediausers heed misleading medical advice Lives couldpotentially be lost

In the event that Facebook and other socialmedia platforms refuse to act promptly toldquoCorrect the Recordrdquo Avaaz recommends thatthe WHO the CDC local health authorities andlegislators throughout the world urge theplatforms to adopt ldquoCorrect the Recordrdquoimmediately

16

Key Findings

FACEBOOK IS AN EPICENTRE OF CORONAVIRUS MISINFORMATION

In an official statement Facebook announced that ldquoweremove COVID-19 related misinformation that couldcontribute to imminent physical harmrdquo and that ldquoonce a postis rated false by a fact-checker we reduce its distribution sofewer people see it and we show strong warning labels andnotifications to people who still come across it try to share itor already haverdquo

Our findings indicate a gap between these promises andwhat is actually happening on the platform 43 pieces ofmisinformation content that Avaaz analysed on Facebook(41 of our entire sample) have as of April 7 2020 nowarning labels to inform users of falsehoods and potentialharms even though fact checks are publicly available for all104 posts

28 out of those 43 pieces of content with no warninglabels from Facebook (65) have been fact-checked byone of Facebookrsquos Third-Party Fact-Checking Programpartners This indicates that even when Facebook fact-checking partners detect and issue a correction forcoronavirus virus the platform still has trouble labelingand downgrading it

For example this post by Natural Nana (a pagewhose banner reads ldquoModern medicine will cure you todeathrdquo) from January 26 2020 claims that oregano oilcan destroy human coronavirus and completely stopits replication within 20 minutes of exposure Thelink shared in this post has 6158 reactions and2718 shares with 100 of the ldquoTop Referralsrdquo for this

17

18 19

20

link on Facebook coming after 25 January 2020 Ourfindings indicate that the story was still being widelyshared in March with the associated claim thatoregano oil can kill COVID-19 This post was oftenshared by actors interested in marketing oregano oilwith posts claiming it cures the virus However theoriginal claim this post refers to is a decade oldoriginating from the website holisticprimarycarenetScientists have said there is no such cure for COVID-19

The heavy online traffic this refurbished story received as aresult of the pandemic led the editor of the website to issuea clarification debunking the claim on the website itself yetthe claim that ldquoOregano is a cure for coronavirusrdquo continuesto spread on Facebook without any warning labels to informusers who see this post that the information is false andcould lead to public harm

21

24 of the 104 pieces of misinformation content we analysed could contribute to imminent physical harm(according to Facebookrsquos content moderation policies) yet as of April 7th 2020 only 8 of themisinformation content has been removed by Facebook

Facebookrsquos Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said ldquowe want people to get accurate informationrdquo andldquowersquore removing things quickly if theyrsquore harmfulrdquo

22

23

24

ITALIAN SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE SPEAKING USERS APPEAR TO BE ATGREATER RISK OF UNCHECKED MISINFORMATION EXPOSURE

For 29 of fact-checked English-language misinformation content in our sample Facebook has not issuedwarning labels alerting users to the falsehoods of this content But the situation is very different forcontent in other languages putting users in other countries that have been hit hard by the pandemic atgreater risk of misinformation exposure Avaazrsquos investigation found that as of 7 April 2020 over 51 ofthe non-English content analysed in total has yet to receive warning labels by Facebook Morespecifically these labels have not been applied to

70 (7 out of 10) of Spanish-language content (to date shared 510k times overall)

68 (13 out of 19) of Italian-language content (to date shared 307k times overall)

50 (7 out of 14) of Portuguese-language content (to date shared 78k times overall)

22 (2 out of 9) of Arabic-language content (to date shared 453k times overall)

14 (1 out of 7) of French-language content (to date shared 44k times overall) faring better than thescale at which English-language content was appropriately labeled

Here is a more in-depth look at each language-specific subset of content analysed

ENGLISH-LANGUAGE CONTENT

29 of the English-languagemisinformation content analysed (shared290k times) has not been labeled byFacebook

16 of all the English stories fall into thecategory of the exact kind of violativeharmful content that Facebook has publiclycommitted to remove

For example in the post below and theaccompanying article Andrew W Saulclaims ldquoThe coronavirus pandemic can bestopped with the immediate widespreaduse of high doses of vitamin Crdquo As of 7April 2020 posts linking the article havereceived an estimated 301110 views

As fact-checking website Lead Storiesconcludes ldquovitamin C does not slow or stopcoronavirusrdquo and ldquoThe WHO is warning againstmisinformation regarding the prevention andtreatment of the virus including claims thattaking large doses of vitamin C[] will eitherprevent or slow the spread of itrdquo

Although the original post has now beenremoved by Facebook after being flagged byAvaaz a number of posts by others sharingthe same story remain on the platform without awarning label

25

26

27

29

30

ldquoThe coronavirus pandemic can be stopped with theimmediate widespread use of high doses of vitamin Crdquo

28

PORTUGUESE-LANGUAGE CONTENT

50 of the Portuguese-language content analysed (shared 78k times overall) has not beenlabeled by Facebook

43 of the Portuguese samples fall into the category of misinformation that could lead toimminent harm

For example in this video posted by Brazilrsquos President Jair Bolsonaro he claims that the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine effectively cured 78 out of 80 COVID-19 patients in a studyand is ldquoalready a realityrdquo and therefore is a viable medicine to treat the virus Nonetheless asnumerous experts have highlighted the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients iscontroversial and there is not yet enough research to provide conclusive evidence of its safety oreffectiveness Misinformation about hydroxychloroquine as a viable treatment method hasalready been linked to several deaths in the US As of 10 April 2020 this video has beenviewed over 15 million times on Facebook

31

32

33

34

35

ITALIAN-LANGUAGE CONTENT

68 of Italian-language misinformation content we analysed (shared 307k times overall) hasnot been labeled by Facebook

21 of the Italian misinformation posts sampled fall into the category of harmful content thatFacebook has publicly committed to remove and these posts were still up on the platform as of7 April 2020

For example in one video the speaker who claims to be a medical doctor says that stayinghome is useless against the coronavirus and that our natural bacteria combined with burningincense are sufficient to fend against infection This video has been viewed over 11 milliontimes on Facebook as of 7 April 2020

SPANISH-LANGUAGE CONTENT

70 of the Spanish-language content analysed (shared 510k times) has not been labeled byFacebook

20 of the overall Spanish misinformation content sampled falls into the category of harmfulcontent that Facebook publicly committed to remove

For example one meme reads ldquoLetrsquos avoid more deathsrdquo (Avaaz translation) and claims that theway to rid onersquos body of the virus is to drink a lot of water and gargle with water salt or vinegarThe original post shared over 31000 times on Facebook has now been taken down afterAvaaz notified Facebook about it But the other 2611 clones of this meme remain on theplatform with over 92246 interactions Most of these cloned posts have no warning labelsfrom Facebook This example points to another gap in Facebookrsquos enforcement of its anti-misinformation policies Facebook may add a warning label on a specific piece of misinformationcontent shared as an image but that the warning label is not replicated when the image isposted or shared again by others

36

37

38

39

40

ARABIC-LANGUAGE CONTENT

22 of the Arabic-language content analysed (shared 453k times) has not been labeled byFacebook

56 of the overall Arabic content falls into the category of harmful content that Facebookpublicly committed to remove and 80 of the posts that may cause physical harm were still onthe platform as of 7 April 2020

For example a video in Arabic posted on 20 March 2020 claimed that hair dryers could beused for coronavirus prevention The fact-checked video was taken down 11 days after it wasposted It had been viewed at least 26 million times between posting and removal

FRENCH-LANGUAGE CONTENT

14 of the French-language content we analysed (shared 44k times) has not been labeled byFacebook

14 of the overall French content sampled falls into the category of harmful content thatFacebook committed to remove

For example the article linked in this post claims that coronavirus dies at temperaturesabove 2627 degrees Celsius and one can prevent infection by gargling with disinfectant

41

42

43

44 45

VIRUS MISINFORMATION IS STILL GOING VIRAL - REACHING TENS OFMILLIONS OF FACEBOOK USERS

A better understanding of the true scale of this infodemic requires more openness from FacebookSpecifically Facebook continue to update researchers with answers to the following questions

How many of its users have seen and clicked on harmful misinformation about COVID-19

How many users have seen a warning label from one of its fact-checking partners

Will Facebook begin to retroactively alert and provide independently fact-checked corrections from theWHO and its fact-checking partners to every user who has been exposed to misinformation on itsplatform

The 104 pieces of coronavirus misinformationcontent Avaaz analysed on Facebook havebeen shared almost 17 million times and havereached over 117 million estimated views It isimportant to note that these numbersrepresent the tip of the iceberg given thisinvestigation analysed a small sample ofmisinformation in only 6 languages and wasdesigned to investigate whether Facebookrsquosresponse was as effective as the companyclaims and not the overall scale ofmisinformation on the platform

The significant reach of the 104 pieces ofcontent suggests that Facebookrsquos efforts tostem the spread of coronavirus misinformation

are not as effective as company executiveshave suggested

On 25 March 2020 Facebook announced that100 million users clicked through its newlyreleased ldquoCOVID-19 Information Centerrdquo Ifthe small selection of misinformation contentsampled for this analysis (104 posts) wereviewed an estimated 117 million times thisstrongly suggests that hundreds of millions ofFacebook users across the world have likelyclicked through the vast amount ofmisinformation content spreading across theplatform

One piece of misinformation content can mutatethen infect hundreds of Facebook accounts groupsand pages and thrive for days to weeks withoutdetection

For example our team detected 28 variationsof one distinct misinformation post thatcontained false and misleading medicaladvice Each mutation of this post maintainsthe same overall content and form but thesource attribution and language vary Posts inthis chain of deception claim that theinformation they are promoting is from theWHO UNICEF local health authorities(including the Canadian Department of Health)andor renowned hospitals (including theStanford Hospital Board) and doctors across atleast 14 countries (USA Nigeria Egypt FranceJapan Australia Italy Philippines GhanaEthiopia India Marshall Islands Burma Brazil)They are also found in 8 different languages

(English Portuguese Arabic French ChineseBurmese Punjabi and Italian)

The 28 posts promoted an almost identical listof misleading medical advice including thedebunked claim that ldquotaking a deep breath andholding it for more than 10 secondsrdquo is a viableway to find out if you have COVID-19

Many of these posts are still being shared onFacebook without any warning labels Forexample up until 6 April 2020 we continuedto find the false post citing the ldquoStanfordHospital Boardrdquo still active across dozens ofprofiles and groups on Facebook without anyfact checks or labels despite the fact that itwas debunked by the Associated Press aFacebook fact-checking partner on 12 March2020 The Stanford Health Center alsodebunked the claim

46

47

48

49

Facebookrsquos current counter-misinformation efforts remain slow and insufficient in limiting the spread ofcoronavirus misinformation even when the content is flagged by the platformrsquos very own fact-checkingpartners

For the subset of coronavirus-relatedmisinformation content in our study for whichFacebook added a warning label there was anaverage 5-day delay between when harmfulmisinformation content was posted and therelease of a fact check by a member ofFacebookrsquos Third-Party Fact-CheckingProgram

To assess how quickly Facebook issueswarning labels in response to its fact-checkingpartnersrsquo fact checks Avaaz followed 4 falsestories that were debunked by Facebookrsquosprogram partners and measured the numberof days between the moment the stories wereposted on the platform and when they wereappropriately labeled as false For each pieceof content it took 1 4 10 and 13 daysrespectively for the platform to issue warninglabels after its partners had issued acorrection This means that on average it cantake up to 7 days for a post to be labeled byFacebook after the platform had a fact checkavailable from its partners

If the anecdotal results above reflect whatrsquoshappening across Facebook this would meanthat it could take on average a total of 12days for Facebook to issue warning labels oncoronavirus misinformation content or toremove content that may cause imminentharm

This means that millions of users who see thecontent before these labels are enforced willlikely never know what they saw containedfalse and misleading content

For example it took 22 days for Facebook tolabel a misinformation video in Spanishclaiming that the virus was deliberatelycreated in a lab at the Institute of Virology inWuhan By that time the video had reached 33million views It took 9 days for the video to befact-checked by a Facebook partner and thenanother 13 days for the video to be labeled byFacebook as misinformation

50

Herersquos a closer look at the sequence and timing of Facebookrsquos actions

Independent fact-checkers have moved quickly to respond to the deluge of misinformation aroundCOVID-19 issuing fact checks within on average 5 days from when the misinformationcontent is posted online Fact-checking organisations alongside the WHO and the CDC areperforming a Herculean public service by issuing corrections to this flood of misinformation - butFacebook is not doing enough to match these efforts by ensuring that fact checks reach those whoare exposed to and potentially harmed by the misinformation

Facebook has often sought to shift the responsibility for delays in catching and labelingmisinformation to independent fact-checkers By doing so the company is deflecting itsresponsibility as the platform has the ability to retroactively notify all its users who have seenharmful misinformation

How Facebook Can Inoculate Users Against CoronavirusMisinformationFrom fake cures to harmful advice that weakensefforts to sustain social-distancing misinformationabout the coronavirus on Facebook could potentiallycost lives and hinder attempts to fight thispandemic

The findings above show that Facebookrsquos currentefforts to fight misinformation are inadequateMisinformation actors know that they can spreadsophisticated and malicious lies such as the fakeldquoStanford Medical Advicerdquo post claiming thatldquoholding your breath for ten seconds is a test forwhether one has Coronavirusrdquo or to market a fakecure such as chlorine dioxide They know that beforeFacebook gets to fact-checking and labeling orremoving this harmful content millions of peoplewill have seen the story and possibly believed it

But Facebook can today act to retroactively informthose victimized by misinformation so that even if ittakes a week to catch a malicious misinformationstory about COVID-19 all those who have seen thismisinformation are notified and receive a correctionfrom the WHO the CDC or a relevant independentfact-checker This solution called ldquoCorrect theRecordrdquo could save lives and significantlydisincentivize misinformation actors by retroactivelyinoculating Facebook users against their content

A new academic study proves that providing socialmedia users who have seen false or misleadinginformation with corrections from fact-checkers can

decrease belief in disinformation by an average of50 percent and by as much as 61 percent

The academic study on corrections commissionedby Avaaz was conducted by Dr Ethan Porter ofGeorge Washington University and Dr Tom Wood ofOhio State University who are leading experts in thestudy of corrections of false information

In order to test the effectiveness of corrections ahyper-realistic visual model of Facebook wasdesigned to mimic the user experience on theplatform Then a representative sample of theAmerican population consisting of 2000anonymous participants chosen and surveyedindependently by YouGovrsquos Academic Political ampPublic Affairs Research branch were randomlyshown up to 5 pieces of false news that were basedon real independently fact-checked examples offalse or misleading content being shared onFacebook

Through a randomized model some of the usersafter seeing the false news were showncorrections Some users saw only the false ormisleading content and some saw neither Then thesurveyed participants answered questions designedto test whether they believed the false news

51

52

53

In addition to the conclusion that corrections can effectively counter American social media usersrsquo beliefin disinformation cutting it in half the study also found that

The average drop in belief in false or misleading information after seeing a correction was 50 forRepublicans and 47 for Democrats

615 fewer people believed a false news story that claimed President Trump said Republicansare the dumbest group of voters

507 fewer people believed a false news story that claimed the measles outbreaks werecaused by illegal immigrants after being exposed to a correction versus those that saw only thefake item

50 fewer people believed a false news story that claimed Greta is the highest paid activist inthe world and had made millions from her activism

424 fewer people believed a false news story that claimed that a photo of a female Somalisoldier circulating on social media showed US Representative Ilhan Omar at a terrorist trainingcamp in Somalia

42 fewer people believed a false news story that claimed that installing 5G towers required ahazmat suit

AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THE CORRECTIONS TESTED WOULD LOOK ISPRESENTED BELOW

And will also receive a notification like this notifying them them to review the correction

Users who happen to see a misinformationpost like this

will see a notification like this in theirnewsfeed and via their notification centrewhen the post is eventually fact-checked byan independent fact-checker

Facebook has the capacity to design and implement a correction model similar to the above and possiblymore sophisticated The platform has a social responsibility to inoculate users against misinformation anddisinformation by correcting the record But if the platform refuses to implement this solution the WHOthe CDC and local health authorities throughout the world have significant public support to obligeFacebook to protect its users

Out of 1000 Americans polled who participated in the study 684 agree or strongly agree thatFacebook should inform users when they have been targeted with disinformation and provide themwith corrections from independent fact-checkers

608 agree or strongly agree that social media companies should be required by law to protect theirusers from disinformation with only 181 disagreeing

On average 87 of citizens in Germany France Spain and Italy want social media platforms to workwith fact-checkers to issue corrections to anyone exposed to false or misleading content

Avaaz recommends that the WHO the CDC local health authorities and lawmakers throughout the worlduse their leverage and significant public support to engage with Facebook and push the platform toldquoCorrect the Recordrdquo

54

Methodology and Data Set

To better understand the scale of coronavirus-related misinformation on Facebook and theplatformrsquos handling of the ldquoinfodemicrdquo Avaazcollected and monitored relevant misinformationcontent in 6 languages English Italian SpanishFrench Portuguese and Arabic

For the purpose of measuring Facebookrsquos statedclaims about its fact-checking efforts theinvestigative team analysed 104 verifiably false ormisleading posts about the coronavirus thatcumulatively

1 Were fact-checked by Facebookrsquos Third-PartyFact-Checking partners or other reputable fact-checking organisations To double-check theaccuracy of all fact checks Avaaz hired HealthFeedback to review all samples chosen for thisstudy Health Feedback verifies scientificclaims and is a member of the WHO-led projectVaccine Safety Net (VSN) They are part of thenon-profit organisation Science Feedback - athird-party fact-checking partner ofFacebook

2 Could cause public harm by undermining publichealth Avaaz has included false andmisleading content which impacts public healthin the areas of

A Preventing disease eg false informationon diseases epidemics and pandemicsand anti-vaccination misinformation

B Prolonging life and promoting health egbogus cures andor encouragement todiscontinue recognised medicaltreatments

C Creating distrust in health institutionshealth organisations medical practice andtheir recommendations eg falseinformation implying that clinicians orgovernments are creating or hidinghealth risks

D Fearmongering health-relatedmisinformation which can induce fear andpanic eg misinformation stating thatthe coronavirus is a human-made bio-weapon being used against certaincommunities or that Chinese productsmay contain the virus

E Health misinformation with the potentialof inducing discrimination againstminorities eg migrants are spreadingthe virus

For each of the false and misleading posts andstories sampled based on the above criteria Avaazresearchers recorded and analysed using bothdirect observation and Crowdtangle software

The number of times each of these stories wasshared and the total number of interactions itreceived

An estimate of the number of times each waslikely viewed on the platform

Whether each had a warning label as false andmisleading added to it by Facebook

When misinformation posts would receive afact-check warning label or be removed(researchers monitored misinformation postswith no warning labels daily)

The delay between when the misinformationcontent was posted and the publication of afact-check by a Facebook partner website

Where applicable researchers measured thedelay between when the originalmisinformation content was posted and thedate when Facebook first applied itsmoderation policies on the post by eitherflagging the content as misinformation orremoving it from the platform

A list of all the misinformation content analysed forthis report can be found in the appendix

It is important to note that although fact checksfrom reputable fact-checking organisations providea reliable way to identify misinformation contentfact-checkers have limited access to misinformationspreading in private Facebook groups on privateFacebook profiles and via Facebook messenger

Similarly engagement data for Facebook postsanalysed in this study are only indicative of widerengagement with and exposure to misinformationIn many cases the misinformation content sampledin this study were cloned and spread by manyaccounts across Facebook yet we can only measurethe interactions with the sampled piece of content inthis report Still the engagement data we estimatefor our sample provides some indication of therelative reach of different claims

It is important to note that while we collect dataand compute numbers to the best of our ability thisanalysis is neither comprehensive nor is itexhaustive (we looked only at a sample of fact-checked misinformation posts in six languages)Moreover this research is made significantly morechallenging because Facebook does not provideinvestigators with access to the data needed tomeasure the total response rate moderation speednumber of fact checks and the amount of users whohave seen or been targeted with misinformationNonetheless Facebook is becoming morecooperative with civil society organisations and wehope the platform continues this positive trend

Importantly this study achieved its purpose bytaking a step towards a better understanding of thescale and scope of the COVID-19 misinformationinfodemic on Facebook

Cooperation across fields sectors and disciplines isneeded more than ever to fight disinformation andmisinformation All social media platforms mustbecome more transparent with their users and withresearchers to ensure that the scale of this problemis measured effectively and to help public healthofficials respond in a more effectual andproportional manner to both the pandemic andldquoinfodemicrdquo

55

56 57

58

59

VIEWERSHIP CALCULATION FOR VIDEOS ON FACEBOOK

Our fake news selection contained 13 examples of Facebook fake news video content accumulating a totalof 47317476 views and 1511408 interactions between the period of 21 January 2020 and 7 April 2020

VIEWERSHIP ESTIMATION FOR IMAGES AND TEXT

Facebook discloses the number of views for videos but for posts containing only text and image contentthe platform displays only the number interactions (which are shares reactions and comments) Thereforein order to estimate viewership for text and image content we designed a ratio based on the actual viewsdivided by the total interactions of the 13 Facebook misinformation videos present in this study The ratioapplied to all images and text posts is

47317476 1511408 = 3131

Estimated views calculation For each image and text posts we multiplied our viewsinteraction ratio of3131 per the highest available number of interactions for those posts or web links provided byCrowdTangle Adding all those estimated views together to the real Facebook video views we obtain thefinal estimate of 117714168 estimated views for the sampled posts between the dates of 21 January2020 and 7 April 2020

For more information and interviews

mediaavaazorg

Andrew Legon (CET Timezone) - andrewlegonavaazorg +34 600 820 285

Ahmed Alsalman (EST Timezone) - ahmedavaazorg +1 313 247 3679

MORE INFORMATION ON AVAAZrsquoS DISINFORMATION WORK

Avaaz is a global democratic movement with morethan 56 million members around the world All fundspowering the organisation come from smalldonations from individual members

This report is part of an ongoing Avaaz campaign toprotect people and democracies from the dangers ofdisinformation and misinformation on social mediaAs part of that effort Avaaz investigations revealeda disinformation network with half a billion viewsahead of the European Union elections in 2019prompted Facebook to take down a networkreaching 17m people in Spain days before the 2019national election released a report on the fake news(reaching 105 million views) that fueled the YellowVests crisis in France exposed a massivedisinformation network (28 pages with 126 millioninteractions) during the Brazil presidential elections

in 2018 revealed the role anti-vaccinationmisinformation is having on reducing the vaccinerate in Brazil and released a report on how YouTubeis driving millions of people to watch climatemisinformation videos

Avaazrsquos work on disinformation is rooted in the firmbelief that fake news proliferating on social mediaposes a grave threat to democracy the health andwell-being of communities and the security ofvulnerable people Avaaz reports openly on itsdisinformation research so it can alert and educatesocial media platforms regulators and the publicand to help society advance smart solutions todefend the integrity of our elections and ourdemocracies You can find our reports and learnmore about our work by visitinghttpssecureavaazorgcampaignendisinfo_hub

AnnexTable with the 20 most significant examples of misinformation content referenced in this report

Fake News Post LanguageFacebook warninglabel showing on

post

Delay of fact check(where applicable)

Fact check (linkedto article)

= Facebook ThirdParty Fact Checker

Gaza is the only place in the world free of theCoronavirus

Arabic Yes(4 days after fact

check)

2 Fatabyyano فتبینوا

The hot air produced by hair dryers canprevent coronavirus

Arabic Yes 6 Fatabyyano فتبینوا

Hold your breath for 10 seconds to testyourself for coronavirus

Arabic No - AFP

UNICEF instructions to protect fromcoronavirus gargle with salt water

Arabic Yes 11 AFP

The coronavirus pandemic can be stoppedwith high doses of vitamin C

English Yes 10 Lead Stories

Coronavirus destroyed by chlorine dioxide English Yes 14 Factcheckorg

Oregano oil proves effective againstcoronavirus

English No - Washington Post

Black people are resistant to Coronavirus English Yes 1 AFP

VP Pence urges people with coronavirus to goto the police


Garlic cures coronavirus English Yes 10 Factcheckorg

Information regarding Coronavirustemperatures above 2627deg kill the virus

French Yes 4 Les Deacutecodeurs duMonde

Coronavirus was created and planned by theWHO and the Gates Foundation

Italian No - Open

Use natural defenses against viruses andbacteria - staying home is useless

Italian No - Open

Warning coronavirus found on packages fromChina

Portguese Yes 27 AFP

Vaccine that cures coronavirus in 3 hours isready

Portuguese Yes(10 days after fact

check)

- Agecircncia Lupa

793 deaths in Italy today 232 children amongthem

Portuguese Yes(1 day after fact

check)

4 Aos Fatos

Bolsonaro says that hydroxychloroquine hasbeen proved as cure for coronavirus

Portuguese No - Boatos

Doctor Mario Pesaresi reveals inhaling steamas a natural remedy for coronavirus

Spanish No Maldito Bulo

Avoid more deaths Gargle with disinfectant Spanish Yes 1 AFP

Coronavirus was created in the Institute ofVirology in Wuhan

Spanish Yes(13 days after fact

check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes

1 WHO Munich Security Conference 15 February 2020 httpswwwwhointdgspeechesdetailmunich-security-conference

2 CBS interview with Sheryl Sandberg Facebook is removing fake coronavirus news quickly COO Sheryl Sandberg saysFacebook Announcement on Combating COVID-19 Misinformation Across Our Apps Mark Zuckerberg Press Briefing - March18th httpsaboutfbcomwp-contentuploads202003March-18-2020-Press-Call-Transcriptpdf

3 See Methodology and Data Set section for detail 4 For our study we analysed only misinformation content that either had primary or direct fact checks - namely fact checks

that linked or referred to specific posts or articles) For those pieces of content that did not have primary or direct fact checkswe applied findings from primary fact checks to identical health claims made in those posts

5 Our research period covered the actions and statements issued by Facebook between 16 January 2020 and 14 April 2020However based on conversations with representatives of the platform we are encouraged by efforts the platform isexperimenting with to improve the policies and processes that reflect some of the recommendations mentioned below

6 Facebook Combating COVID-19 Misinformation Across Our Apps 25 March 2020 httpsaboutfbcomnews202003combating-covid-19-misinformation

7 By moving to alert those who see misinformation the platform is now doing more than any of the leading social mediaplatforms to inform users about false content they have encountered and starts fixing many of the policy gaps highlightedabove

8 See Methodology and Data Set section 9 The original post was taken down after Avaaz shared it with Facebook httpswwwfacebookcompermalinkphpstory_fbid

=2733027656745577ampid=1555031211211900amp__tn__=-R 10 The original post was taken down after Avaaz shared it with Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomphotophpfbid=2937680

962950647ampset=a152802728105165amptype=3amptheater 11 The original post was taken down after Avaaz shared it with Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomgroups49955439678612

6permalink3476737632401106 12 httparchivephwipd78wi 13 Lead Stories Fact Check VP Pence Did NOT Urge People With Coronavirus To Go To The Police 2 March 2020 httpsleadstori

escomhoax-alert202003Fact-Check-VP-Pence-Did-NOT-Urge-People-With-Coronavirus-To-Go-To-The-Policehtml 14 httpswwwfacebookcomHayfaalhusseinivideos255658768781237__tn__=-R 15 The original post was taken down after Avaaz shared it with Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomholisticn8healingphotos

a362593477866554605012106958022type=3amp__tn__=-R 16 For the purposes of the Correct the Record academic study referenced in full later in this report we used the terms

disinformation misinformation and false news interchangeably to mean verifiably false or misleading information thathas the potential to cause public harm such as undermining democracy or public health For the purposes of the investigationpresented in this briefing we relied on a definition of misinformation described in full in the Methodology and Data Setsection below

17 Facebook announcement 25 March 2020 Combating COVID-19 Misinformation Across Our Apps 18 httparchivephS9n1z 19 httparchivephhqKF5 20 httparchivephOF0Ur 21 As available from CrowdTangle 22 Facebook announcement 25 March 2020 Combating COVID-19 Misinformation Across Our Apps 23 Avaaz shared the list of misinformation posts that could potentially lead to imminent physical harm with Facebook on 8 April

2020 to help ensure that they would be speedily removed In response Facebook has as of 14 April 2020 taken down 17 ofthe posts we flagged

24 CBS News interview with Facebooks COO Sheryl Sandberg 18 March 2020 httpswwwcbsnewscomnewsfacebook-coronavirus-fake-news-coo-sheryl-sandberg

25 We remove coronavirus-related misinformation that could contribute to imminent physical harm Wersquove removed harmfulmisinformation since 2018 including false information about the measles in Samoa where it could have furthered anoutbreak and rumors about the polio vaccine in Pakistan where it risked harm to health aid workers Since January wersquoveapplied this policy to misinformation about the coronavirus to remove posts that make false claims about cures treatmentsthe availability of essential services or the location and severity of the outbreak We regularly update the claims that weremove based on guidance from the WHO and other health authorities For example we recently started removing claims thatphysical distancing doesnrsquot help prevent the spread of the coronavirus Wersquove also banned ads and commerce listings thatimply a product guarantees a cure or prevents people from contracting COVID-19 Facebook Combating COVID-19Misinformation Across Our Apps 25 March 2020 httpsaboutfbcomnews202003combating-covid-19-misinformation

26 The original post was taken down after Avaaz shared it with Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomthemegavitaminmanphotosa1547227014009281234263616780159type=3amp__tn__=-R

27 httparchiveph7ZsU5 28 The original post was taken down after Avaaz shared it with Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomthemegavitaminmanphot

osa1547227014009281234263616780159type=3amp__tn__=-R 29 Lead Stories Fake News Vitamin C Does NOT Slow Or Stop Coronavirus 6 February 2020 httpsleadstoriescomhoax-aler

t202002Fake-News-Vitamin-C-Does-NOT-Slow-Or-Stop-Coronavirushtml 30 Facebook removed the original post after Avaaz shared the link with the companys team dedicated to enforcing its anti-

misinformation policies on 8 April 2020 31 Facebook Combating COVID-19 Misinformation Across Our Apps 25 March 2020 httpsaboutfbcomnews202003com

bating-covid-19-misinformation 32 httparchivevnC7ZaU 33 New York Times 7 Answers to Questions About the Malaria Drug Trump Keeps Pushing 9 April 2020 httpswwwnytimesc

omarticlecoronavirus-hydroxychloroquine-malariahtml 34 Vox Trumprsquos reckless promotion of hydroxychloroquine to fight coronavirus explained 26 March 2020 httpswwwvoxco

m202032621193912trump-hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus-treatment 35 This video was also posted on YouTube and appears to have been taken down by the platform Original YouTube link httpsw

wwyoutubecomwatchv=t1oXq5GJySM 36 Facebook Combating COVID-19 Misinformation Across Our Apps 25 March 2020 httpsaboutfbcomnews202003com

bating-covid-19-misinformation 37 httparchiveisnjLDZ 38 Facebook Combating COVID-19 Misinformation Across Our Apps 25 March 2020 httpsaboutfbcomnews202003com

bating-covid-19-misinformation 39 The original post was taken down after Avaaz shared it with Facebook httpswwwfacebookcompermalinkphpstory_fbid

=2733027656745577ampid=1555031211211900amp__tn__=-R 40 Avaaz shared the list of misinformation posts that could potentially lead to imminent physical harm with Facebook on 8 April



42 httpswwwfacebookcomHayfaalhusseinivideos255658768781237__tn__=-R 43 Facebook Combating COVID-19 Misinformation Across Our Apps 25 March 2020 httpsaboutfbcomnews202003com

bating-covid-19-misinformation 44 httpsarchivemdQI0sV 45 The original post was taken down after Avaaz shared it with Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomgroups11043917599131

3permalink1060218944346660 46 CBS interview with Sheryl Sandberg Facebook is removing fake coronavirus news quickly COO Sheryl Sandberg says

Facebook Announcement on Combating COVID-19 Misinformation Across Our Apps Mark Zuckerberg Press Briefing - March18th httpsaboutfbcomwp-contentuploads202003March-18-2020-Press-Call-Transcriptpdf


48 Associated Press Ability to hold your breath 10 seconds is not a test for coronavirus 12 March 2020 httpsapnewscomafsContent8635070312

49 Stanford Health Center Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center httpsstanfordhealthcareorgstanford-health-care-now2020novel-coronavirushtml

50 httparchivevnvP4fB 51 For the purposes of the Correct the Record academic study we used the terms disinformation misinformation and

false news interchangeably to mean verifiably false or misleading information that has the potential to cause public harmfor example by undermining democracy or public health For the purposes of the investigation presented in this briefing werelied on a definition of misinformation described in full in the Methodology amp Data section below

52 Note This white paper explains the findings of the research conducted by Dr Wood and Dr Porter The academic study will bepublished independently by the authors

53 Visit Factbook httpsfactbookorg - to see how the hyper-realistic model used to mimic Facebook in the study 54 See httpssecureavaazorgactmediaphppress_id=932 55 Spanish

Chequeado (Argentina)Maldito Bulo (Spain)AFP Factual (various Spanish speaking countries)PortugueseAFP ChecamosE farsasBoatosPolitica EstadaoAos FatosLupa (Brazil)Observador (Portugal)FrenchAFP FranceLe Monde (France)ItalianOpenButacBufale (Italy)ArabicFatabyyanoAFP MENA (MENA)EnglishFull Fact (UK)Washington PostFactcheckPolitifactLead StoriesHealth FeedbackAFP United StatesSnopes (USA)

56 httpssciencefeedbackco 57 WHO Global Vaccine Safety - Health Feedback httpswwwwhointvaccine_safetyinitiativecommunicationnetworkhea

lthfeedbacken 58 For videos we include the views reported by Facebook Our misinformation content selection contained 14 examples of false

video content that have accumulated a total of 47327476 views We followed Facebookrsquos definition of what constitutes aview that is a viewing experience that lasts 3 seconds or longer For posts containing only text and image content theplatform displays only the number of shares and other interactions such as likes or comments Therefore in order toestimate viewership for text and image content we designed a metric based on the publicly available statistics of theFacebook videos analysed in our study taking into account the total number of video views and dividing it by the total numberof video shares Facebook reports a video view only after 3 seconds while an image or text can be considered as viewedand having an actual impact in less than 3 seconds (eg just scrolling by an image of a bleeding woman police brutality or

claims of censorship) Therefore the estimation of total views in this study is very likely lower than the actual totalviewership of all content and therefore is to be seen as a conservative figure

59 1 Fact checking articles shown as Related Articles below the post 2 a pop-up notification titled False information in thispost linking the fact checking article and 3 a gray overlay titled False Information Checked by Independent Fact Checkerslinking to (a) fact checking article(s)

Summary of Key Findings of the Analysed Sample

Facebook is an epicentre of coronavirusmisinformation and the platform must domore to protect its users from this infodemic

The 104 coronavirus-related pieces ofmisinformation content analysed in thisreport have reached over 117 millionestimated views even though thissample represents only the tip of theiceberg

Of the 41 of this misinformationcontent that remains on the platformwithout warning labels 65 had beendebunked by partners of Facebookrsquos veryown fact-checking program

Facebookrsquos current anti-misinformationefforts remain slow and insufficient in limitingthe spread of coronavirus misinformationeven when the content is flagged by theplatformrsquos very own fact-checking partners

It can take up to 22 days for theplatform to downgrade and issuewarning labels on false content evenwhen Facebookrsquos fact-checking partnersas well as the World Health Organizationand local health authorities move at asignificant pace to issue corrections

These delays mean that millions of userssee interact with and share themisinformation content before it islabeled andor removed

Italian Spanish and Portuguese-speakingusers appear to receive significantly fewerwarning labels from Facebook and hence areat greater risk of being exposed tomisinformation

Over half (51) of non-Englishmisinformation content had no warninglabels

29 of fact-checked English-languagemisinformation content analysed as ofApril 7th 2020 was found without clearwarning labels from Facebook

But our sample indicates Facebookremains significantly less effective inmoderating COVID-19 misinformation inItalian Spanish and Portuguese

Coronavirus misinformation content mutatesand spreads faster than Facebookrsquos currentsystem can track it

One effective misinformation story canmutate infect and then lodge into andremain across hundreds of Facebookgroups and pages without detection

For example a harmfulmisinformation post that claimedthat one way to rid the body of thevirus is to drink a lot of water andgargle with water salt or vinegarwas shared over 31k times beforeeventually being taken down afterAvaaz flagged it for Facebook Butthe other 2611 clones of that falseand misleading post remain on theplatform with over 92246interactions Most of these clonedposts have no warning labels fromFacebook

8

9

Some of the most egregious falsehoods promoted by the content examined in this study include

FALSE CLAIM

ldquoBlack people are resistant to Coronavirusrdquo

The false claim that those with black skin are moreresistant to the coronavirus



10

FALSE CLAIM





11

FALSE CLAIM






12

13

FALSE CLAIM





14

FALSE CLAIM





15










16

Key Findings






17

18 19

20



21



22

23

24















25

26

27

29

30


28





31

32

33

34

35









36

37

38

39

40









41

42

43

44 45















46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes


















































FALSE CLAIM





11

FALSE CLAIM






12

13

FALSE CLAIM





14

FALSE CLAIM





15










16

Key Findings






17

18 19

20



21



22

23

24















25

26

27

29

30


28





31

32

33

34

35









36

37

38

39

40









41

42

43

44 45















46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes


















































FALSE CLAIM





14

FALSE CLAIM





15










16

Key Findings






17

18 19

20



21



22

23

24















25

26

27

29

30


28





31

32

33

34

35









36

37

38

39

40









41

42

43

44 45















46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes



























































16

Key Findings






17

18 19

20



21



22

23

24















25

26

27

29

30


28





31

32

33

34

35









36

37

38

39

40









41

42

43

44 45















46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes




















































21



22

23

24















25

26

27

29

30


28





31

32

33

34

35









36

37

38

39

40









41

42

43

44 45















46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes
































































25

26

27

29

30


28





31

32

33

34

35









36

37

38

39

40









41

42

43

44 45















46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes






















































31

32

33

34

35









36

37

38

39

40









41

42

43

44 45















46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes


























































36

37

38

39

40









41

42

43

44 45















46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes


























































41

42

43

44 45















46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes
































































46

47

48

49







50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes
























































50












51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes


























































51

52

53

















54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes



























































54
























55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes









































































55

56 57

58

59





47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes






















































47317476 1511408 = 3131



mediaavaazorg










post






check)





Arabic No - AFP


Arabic Yes 11 AFP













Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes






















































Italian No - Open


Italian No - Open





check)

- Agecircncia Lupa



check)

4 Aos Fatos








check)

9 Maldito Bulo

Endnotes


















































executive summary - avaaz › facebook_coronavirus... · facebook is an epicentre of coronavirus...

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