Microsoft has announced that it is working with a number of tech giants, including Google to help combat misinformation regarding COVID-19 (or Coronavirus). As well as helping individuals stay connected to family, health officials and the US government, during this pandemic.
According to the statement that Microsoft put out on Twitter, “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 critical updates in coordination with government healthcare agencies.”
The full list of companies working on this include, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Microsoft is also calling on other companies to join them. However, Microsoft does have the majority of the bigger platforms on board here.
Facebook has already been banning ads that claim to cure COVID-19, Twitter has been working with non-profit organizations to set up campaigns to fact check information. And now we have them all working together, like the Avengers.
Misinformation is spreading like wildfire during this pandemic
We’ve seen a ton of misinformation spreading during this Coronavirus pandemic. In fact, it even prompted us to write an article debunking five myths about the Coronavirus. And getting these tech giants on-board to combat all of this misinformation is a step in the right direction.
Right now the whole country (and really the whole world) is scared. With all of the uncertainty, countries and cities being put on lockdown, and Coronavirus spreading like wildfire, people are freaking out. Having these platforms working with government officials to put out accurate information and in a timely manner, is actually going to be very helpful.
Tech giants are doing what they can to help out, and even keeping everyone connected is a big part of that. Even though these companies have told all of their employees to work from home now, they are still working to keep these platforms up and running. For a big majority of the population, this is how they’ll be able to keep in contact with friends and families, while cities are on lockdown.
While some of these companies compete with each other on a daily basis – like Facebook and Twitter, or Google and Microsoft – they have all banded together for to combat COVID-19. Showing that some things are bigger than their companies and products that they make. It’s good to see all of these companies working together, and hopefully we’ll see more joining this coalition soon.