As Thailand continues to navigate through the latest wave of the Covid-19 and ramp up its effort to get people vaccinated, Facebook knows that people turn to social media more than ever to stay in touch and share information with family and friends at this time. More than ever, it is important that Thais keep themselves safe and informed as we go through this third wave.
Facebook is committed to ensuring that people in Thailand receive updated and accurate information and globally has helped connect over 2 billion people across 189 countries to resources from public health officials, including the Ministry of Public Health’s Department of Disease Control and Thai Health Organization, through its Covid-19 Information Center. Further, Facebook removed more than 12 million pieces of content containing harmful misinformation about Covid-19 and approved vaccines from its platforms and put warning labels on over 167 million posts marked as false by third party fact checkers.
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With over 1.3 billion people using Messenger worldwide and over 60 million people in Thailand accessing Facebook every month, Facebook Thailand launched the AI-driven ‘Chat Sure’ chatbot last week alongside the Ministry of Public Health, Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Hbot, International Health Policy Program and National Vaccine Institute to provide credible up-to-date health information related to Covid-19 and vaccines to the public – available via the Social Marketing ThaiHealth by สสส Facebook Page.
Facebook is also providing real-time data support and tools to more than 450 organizations in approximately 70 countries to help policymakers and health researchers better monitor and forecast the spread of COVID-19 through its Data for Good Symptom Survey, including more than two million responses in Thailand since it was launched last year. According to its most recent data, 75.68% of Thais are willing to receive a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 if it was offered to them today.
Facebook is now running the largest worldwide campaign promoting authoritative Covid vaccine information by helping people find where they can get vaccinated and helping people detect and minimize the spread of health misinformation in their communities.
Below are six additional tips from Facebook for Thais to stay informed and fight Covid-19 misinformation collectively to keep each other safe:
- Get the whole story, not just a headline: Read the whole story and watch out for images, numbers, quotes, and dates that do not have sources, are outdated, or lack context.
- A trusted source is your safest option: Check their “About” page or do a quick search to learn more about the source’s reputation. You can also check whether public health authorities confirm or contradict the information.
- Share facts, not rumors: Misinformation on Covid-19 often can look like the real thing, so look for the little clues that point to misinformation, such as fake URLs, bad spelling, or awkward layouts.
- Get the full context from credible sources: Look for other reports from credible sources to verify that the story contains accurate information from health authorities.
- If an inaccurate story was just shared by a friend or family member: Send them a private message to inform them, but if it is already receiving a lot of likes and comments, make a gentle public correction that includes a link to credible information.
- Pause before you share: Some stories may be short on facts, but use strong, emotional language to evoke a strong reaction. Therefore, check for accuracy before you share and/or refer to credible and authoritative health sources such as the Ministry of Public Health or Thai Health Organization via the Facebook Covid-19 Info Center.
