As World Fights Coronavirus, Tech Companies Are Uniting To Stop Coronavirus Misinformation
Apple and Google are cracking down on apps around Coronavirus that are not developed by a trusted source. Apple came up with an entirely new guideline for its app review system on Wednesday. Google has banned ads around anti-Coronav virus products and has come up with a special module that presents the information straight from the World Health Organization at the top of Google search for anyone looking for the virus.
As the world struggles with the outbreak of Coronavirus, technology majors are facing a different battle altogether. With the rise in the confirmed cases across the globe, online platforms are being flooded with content around the virus spread. Apple and Google are now making sure that this content does not lead to the spread of any misinformation around the same.
For this, the two biggest phone platforms in the world are cracking down on apps around Coronavirus that are not developed by a trusted source. A recent report by CNBC cites four iPhone developers that confirm how the Apple team is starting to delist any app around COVID-19 Coronavirus that is not from a recognized institutions like governments or hospitals.
Most of these apps are dashboards or live maps to monitor the spread of the virus, while some mention the basic guidelines to protect oneself from the outbreak. Even though most of these are procuring their data from reliable sources (like World Health Organisation), Apple¡¯s review process is shunning them altogether.
A written response from Apple to one such developer cited in the report reads, ¡°apps with information about current medical information need to be submitted by a recognized institution.¡±
(Representative Image: Reuters)
The Impact
The new review process works too. Even though the strict mandate limits the number of apps around Coronavirus on the app stores of both Apple and Android, it makes sure that the data being shared with the users is correct and does not result to the spread of any misinformation or false news.
In times like these where panic can be induced through the simplest of fake information, this is a big responsibility for the tech platforms. In fact, the duty call is of such importance, that Apple came up with an entirely new guideline for its app review system on Wednesday.
New Guidelines
Till now, Apple has been citing a guideline numbered 5.2.1 for rejecting most of the apps around Coronavirus. The guideline mentions that ¡°apps should be submitted by the person or legal entity that owns or has licensed the intellectual property and other relevant rights.¡±
On Wednesday, Apple updated this policy with a new clause 5.1.1.ix, which mentions that the apps in ¡°highly-regulated¡± fields like healthcare, financial services, or air travel need to be submitted by a ¡°legal entity that provides the services, and not by an individual developer.¡±
Google Play Store
Most of the developers that got their apps rejected by the Apple review team were cited this clause as the response they got from the team.
A similar clause by Google for Google Play Store does not allow apps to ¡°capitalize on a natural disaster¡± or ¡°atrocity¡± or appears to ¡°profit from a tragic event with no discernible benefit to the victims.¡± This has helped Google limit the information sources for Coronavirus outbreak through its own platform.
Industry-wide efforts
Apart from the two mobile platforms, tech industry in general is reeling under the pressure of controlling this spread of misinformation around Coronavirus. Facebook, world¡¯s biggest social media platform, is cracking down on content that presents conspiracy theories around the outbreak and might induce panic and fear among the Facebook users.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also promised in a recent post that the team at Facebook will be working to make sure that ¡°everyone can access credible and accurate information.¡±
A similar fight is being observed by the e-commerce giant Amazon - that has now warned sellers that it would be taking down any products that claim to kill the Coronavirus.
Even Google has banned ads around anti-Coronavirus products and has come up with a special module that presents the information straight from the World Health Organization at the top of Google search for anyone looking for Coronavirus.
So as the world tackles the virus outbreak, make sure you do not pay heed to any misinformation of any sorts and if in case you come across any questionable content, mark it to the team of the relevant social media platform.