Critical Analysis

1. What portion of health information content from Facebook is misinformation?

2. Describe one trend from the chart.

3. Describe one cause of this trend.

4. What is one consequence of this trend?

5. The title of the chart is “Facebook poses a major health to public health.” Do you agree?

6. Why does Facebook allow misinformation on its site?

7. What do governments around the world tend to do when confronted by major public health crises?

8. What is one thing the US government could do to increase accurate health information and decrease misinformation?

9. Has Donald Trump done more to promote official health information from experts or to spread misinformation?

10. Explain whether you think the federal government should censor false information?

11. Is the ability to spread false information protected by the First Amendment?

12. How much responsibility does Facebook have for all the damage caused by misinformation they spread?

Learning Extension

Read the Avaaz report on COVID-19 misinformation at Facebook

Action Extension

Avaaz recommends five legislative steps to fight disinformation. Learn about these principles and share your thoughts in class.