Google, Facebook and Microsoft remove millions of false Covid posts

In September, Facebook removed more than 120,000 pieces of content in the EU for violating Covid-19 and vaccines misinformation on both Facebook and Instagram. Picture: Pexels

The sheer scale of disinformation online has been laid bare in an EU report that shows Microsoft, Google, and Facebook removed millions of ads and posts in September and October.

As part of the European Commission's code of practice, to which the online giants have signed up, the firms report how many posts, pieces of content, and ads that have been removed monthly for disseminating false Covid-19 information.

Advertising on Microsoft was a target for disinformation purveyors, stark figures show.

"On Microsoft Advertising, the number of ads violating the Covid ads policies blocked from reaching EU users reached 435,922 in September, and 909,713 in October," the commission said.

Google took action against more than 19,000 web addresses, but the sheer enormity of false ads is growing in September and October, the numbers show.

"The number of ads blocked or removed related to Covid-19 increased by more than 500,000 compared to the previous period, with the highest increase in Spain at +252,914," the report said.

In September, Facebook – the target of vociferous global criticism over perceived failures to crack down on disinformation – removed more than 120,000 pieces of content in the EU for violating Covid-19 and vaccines misinformation on both Facebook and Instagram. 

In October, this number increased to 140,000, the commission said.

Twitter suspended 254 accounts in September and 819 accounts in October. It removed 4,544 pieces of content globally in September, and 3, 574 globally in October.

Chinese platform TikTok removed 686 videos violating its terms of service related to Covid-19 in September and 584 videos in October, the Commission said.

"As the pandemic is still not over, and infection rates are surging all over Europe", the commission said monitoring would continue until at least next June.