Trækket udvider Facebooks nuværende regler mod usandheder og sammensværgelsesteorier om pandemien. Det sociale mediefirma siger, at det fjerner misinformation fra coronavirus, der udgør en risiko for 'overhængende' skade, mens det mærker og reducerer distributionen af andre falske påstande, der ikke når denne tærskel.
Facebook sagde i et blogindlæg, at den globale politikændring kom som svar på nyheder om, at COVID-19-vacciner snart vil rulle ud over hele verden.
To lægemiddelfirmaer, Pfizer Inc og Moderna Inc, har bedt amerikanske myndigheder om tilladelse til en hastegodkendelse af deres vaccinkandidater. Storbritannien godkendte Pfizer-vaccinen onsdag og hoppede foran resten af verden i løbet om at starte det mest afgørende massepodningsprogram i historien.
Misinformation about the new coronavirus vaccines has proliferated on social media during the pandemic, including through viral anti-vaccine posts shared across multiple platforms and by different ideological groups, according to researchers.
A November report here by the nonprofit First Draft found that 84 percent of interactions generated by vaccine-related conspiracy content it studied came from Facebook pages and Facebook-owned Instagram.
Facebook said it would remove debunked COVID-19 vaccine conspiracies, such as that the vaccines' safety is being tested on specific populations without their consent, and misinformation about the vaccines.
"This could include false claims about the safety, efficacy, ingredients or side effects of the vaccines. For example, we will remove false claims that COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips," the company said in a blog post. It said it would update the claims it removes based on evolving guidance from public health authorities.
Facebook did not specify when it would begin enforcing the updated policy, but acknowledged it would "not be able to start enforcing these policies overnight."
The social media company has rarely removed misinformation about other vaccines under its policy of deleting content that risks imminent harm. It previously removed vaccine misinformation in Samoa where a measles outbreak killed dozens late last year, and it removed false claims about a polio vaccine drive in Pakistan that were leading to violence against health workers.
Facebook, which has taken steps to surface authoritative information about vaccines, said in October that it would also ban ads that discourage people from getting vaccines. In recent weeks, Facebook removed a prominent anti-vaccine page and a large private group - one for repeatedly breaking COVID misinformation rules and the other for promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Kommentar: Translation: Facebook will ban any information that contradicts the official narrative on vaccines whether true or not.