Facebook fixes bug that marked legitimate coronavirus-related posts as spam

A bug on Facebook and Instagram incorrectly removed legitimate posts related to coronavirus and marked them as spam. Facebook's head of safety on Tuesday said that the bug has been fixed and all the posts incorrectly removed have been restored. Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president for integrity, in a Twitter post, informed that the bug was in an anti-spam system and it incorrectly removed multiple posts, not just those related to COVID-19.

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According to reports, the bug was reported after Facebook sent all its contract workers, who used to perform content review services for the social media giant, home for public health reasons amid coronavirus outbreak. Users reported glitch on both Facebook and Instagram where they said links to certain coronavirus-related articles were unable to get through the platforms. 

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Facebook and various other social media platforms have collaborated with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in raising awareness for the outbreak. Facebook has also pledged to contain all misinformation related to the deadly disease on its platform. Coronavirus outbreak has caused panic across the world and misinformation is prevalent on the internet.

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Coronavirus outbreak

The COVID-19 has claimed more than 7,900 lives across the world and has infected over 1,98,000 people globally. China is the most affected country in the world as experts believe that the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally. Italy, Iran and Spain are the most affected countries besides China. 

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