Facebook has now joined the global battle against the recent spread of COVID-19. The company has announced a platform for developers and health organizations to work together for better circulation of reliable information. It is also set to organize a hackathon so that developers can come up with better tools to fight the pandemic.
Facebook’s battle against COVID-19
Facebook Messenger is a messaging platform with over 1.3 billion active users. Because of such a high number, it has also been medium for false information, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories to spread. These misinformations have induced panic and fear among the public. Facebook looks to put a stop to that and join the battle against COVID-19.
Check out Siri’s latest feature to check COVID-19 symptoms
Free resources for Government Health Organisation
Facebook has announced a global program for third-party developers to work together with government health agencies and different bodies of the UN. The aim is to create a platform for effective and timely circulation of official information to the general public. The company believes it will reduce the impact of the misinformation to a great extent. Facebook’s developer partners have already agreed to participate in the program for free.
Argentina has already utilized this program to partner with bootmaker.com to clear people’s queries about the pandemic. The messenger app (or the bot) is said to provide reliable information 24 hours a day. UNICEF and Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services are also active in Messenger and Facebook believes others will also join them through the program.
Also, check out CISCO’s steps to battle coronavirus
Online hackathon to address COVID-19 issues
Facebook has also partnered with Devpost to announce a global online hackathon so that developers can come up with better tools to utilize its platform to address the current situation. It expects participants to solve both local and global issues such as social distancing, message circulation using Facebook Live tutorial and other relevant content. Facebook will help with the practical implementation of the winning ideas. Winners will also get invitations for F2 2021 event. Interested developers can look for further updates here.
