As part of a crackdown on accounts spreading disinformation about COVID-19, Facebook deleted a series of these accounts days before the German federal election.

These accounts also encouraged violent responses to the Covid restrictions.

The crackdown, which was announced on September 16, was the first step taken under Facebook’s new “coordinated social damage” policy. It aims to stop disinformation campaigns.

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In Germany, around 150 accounts, pages and groups were linked to the “Querdenken” movement, a group protesting against the lockdown measures in the country.

While far-right users called it censorship, Facebook pushed it as an innovative response to potentially dangerous content.

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Earlier, Facebook also announced various new efforts to tackle misinformation about the climate crisis on its platform.

These include expanding its climate science center to provide more reliable information, investing in organizations that fight disinformation, and launching a video series to highlight young climate advocates on Facebook and Instagram.

To concern:

However, critics say the push is insufficient and will allow copious amounts of climate misinformation to slip through the cracks.

At the April 2021 congressional hearing, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted climate misinformation is “a big deal.”

(With contributions from agencies)