Facebook Press Call: March 18, 2020

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
In response to the March 2020 pandemic onset, Facebook launched a Coronavirus Information Center and allocated $100 million in grants to support small businesses.See it on page 6
02
The company shifted to automated content moderation systems to manage platform traffic surges and reduced human capacity caused by remote work constraints.See it on page 26
03
Enforcement policies for health-related content were aligned with guidelines from the World Health Organization and the CDC to prioritize the removal of dangerous hoaxes.See it on page 2
04
To combat misinformation without compromising end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp, the company implemented friction-based features such as message forwarding limits.See it on page 23
05
Non-imminent misinformation was addressed through a tiered strategy that utilized reach-limiting labels and third-party fact-checking rather than direct removal.See it on page 25
06
Facebook provided free access to its Workplace software to government and emergency services to stabilize public communication channels during the global crisis.See it on page 6

Summary

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 necessitated a rapid strategic pivot for Facebook, centered on balancing the dissemination of authoritative health information with the containment of viral misinformation. To address the global health crisis, the company launched a dedicated Coronavirus Information Center and committed $100 million in grants to support small businesses, alongside providing free access to its Workplace software for government and emergency services. These initiatives were designed to stabilize public communication channels while managing the unprecedented surge in platform traffic that accompanied the global shift toward remote work and social isolation.

Content moderation emerged as a primary operational challenge during this period, forcing a transition toward increased reliance on automated systems. While human moderation capacity faced inevitable declines due to remote work constraints, the company prioritized the removal of content posing imminent physical harm, such as dangerous health hoaxes, by aligning enforcement policies with guidance from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For non-imminent misinformation, the platform implemented a tiered strategy involving reach-limiting labels and fact-checking, while maintaining a strict distinction between public health threats and protected political speech.

Despite the operational strain, the company reaffirmed its commitment to user privacy, specifically regarding the maintenance of end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp. Rather than compromising security to monitor private communications, the platform opted to introduce friction-based features, such as message forwarding limits, to curb the spread of misinformation. Although technical glitches occasionally resulted in the erroneous removal of legitimate content, the company maintained that its hybrid approach of AI-driven enforcement and human-led fact-checking remained the most effective mechanism for navigating the complex intersection of public safety and digital information integrity.