Instagram is under fire for false information.
There have been inconsistent practices in its handling of misinformation about vaccines, Instagram told Engadget that it will block hashtags that surface “verifiably false” information regarding vaccinations. The new policy will extend Instagram’s ban policy to hashtags that may seem unrelated or innocuous but are used to spread debunked claims.
The company recently blocked hashtags like #vaccinescauseautism and #vaccinescauseaids. Now the company will also block hashtags that don’t necessarily contain debunked information but are used by anti-vaxxers to spread demonstrably false claims.
For instance, if groups began using the hashtag #vaccines1234 to share misinformation, that hashtag would be blocked by Instagram.
Parent company Facebook has also taken similar steps to limit the spread of misinformation about vaccines.
Courtesy of engadget.com