Facebook will tell people where to get vaccinated

Facebook will begin showing information to its US users this week about where and when they can get Covid-19 vaccines, the company announced Monday.

As part of the Covid-19 information center, Facebook will direct users to local health authority websites where they can obtain information about their eligibility for vaccination. The feature will be expanded globally in the coming weeks.

The company will also provide $ 120 million in advertising credits to health agencies around the world so they can run campaigns on Covid-19 vaccines.

In addition, the company said it was working with the World Health Organization to expand its list of false claims related to Covid-19 that Facebook will remove from its services. This includes claims that Covid-19 is man-made, claims that vaccines are ineffective, and claims that vaccines can cause autism.

For groups that have previously violated Facebook’s Covid-19 policy, the company temporarily requires admins to approve all posts within their groups before publishing. On Instagram, the company will make it harder for people to find accounts that discourage people from getting vaccinated. Facebook and Instagram groups, pages and accounts that repeatedly share debunked Covid-19 claims can be removed altogether, the company said.

Facebook said it is also working with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to ensure that information about the Covid-19 vaccines reaches communities where access to vaccines may be lower. This includes Native American, Black, and Latinx communities.

The company announced in November its plans to provide users with authoritative information about the Covid-19 vaccines.

Nominations are open for 2021 CNBC disruptor 50, a list of private start-ups using breakthrough technology to become the next generation of large public corporations. To send until Friday, Feb. 12 at 3:00 p.m. EST.