In response to the coronavirus outbreak, Facebook is providing the World Health Organization (WHO) with free ad space to limit misinformation and harmful content relating to COVID-19.
In a post on Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social network would provide WHO with “as many free ads as they need for outreach related to the outbreak.” The platform is also giving away free ad credits to organizations and national ministries of health.
Recently, in an interview with Arab News, Pakistan’s health minister, Zafar Mirza, said that Facebook has agreed to give ad credits worth $50,000 to the government of Pakistan for coronavirus-related awareness campaigns.
#Facebook has agreed to give ad credits worth $50,000 to the #Pakistan government for #coronavirus related awareness campaigns, health minister @zfrmrza
told #ArabNewsPk || @ImranKhanPTI
@Facebook https://t.co/3BDxJwUrZU pic.twitter.com/6CuloiYDNW— Arab News Pakistan (@arabnewspk) March 16, 2020
Facebook is promising to stop misinformation, and the platform is doing a pretty good job. The wheels are already in motion. If you search for anything related to the epidemic, you will be referred to local health organizations.
In other news, the Government of Pakistan is setting up disease surveillance units all around the country. Rapid response teams and rangers have been deployed at multiple locations. According to Mirza, Pakistan is doing an excellent job in the current situation, and most likely, the government will not declare a national health emergency.
For more information regarding the situation, refer to this Urdu Chatbot launched by the Digital Pakistan team.
