Facebook will add messaging to its News Feed and Instagram’s feed to encourage people to wear face masks, the company said on Thursday. An alert will appear at the top of News Feeds on Facebook that directs users to the COVID-19 Information Center, and they will have links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more information. Instagram will include a similar prompt with CDC links.
As reported by the Verge, the banners will direct users to the latest information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more information. On Facebook, users will also be able to quickly jump to the social network’s dedicated COVID-19 Information Center. The Facebook banner will read:
Wear a Cloth Face Covering to Help Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 When in public, cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face covering. Learn more at cdc.gov. You can find more presentation tips in the COVID-19 Information Center.
And on Instagram:
Wear a Cloth Face Covering to Help Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 When in public, cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face covering. Learn more from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Notably, these banners come as Facebook struggles to contain disinformation about COVID-19 and face coverings on the platform. The CDC currently recommends that people wear face masks in public as a way to protect others from potentially becoming infected, especially when social distancing is not possible.
The new banners on Instagram and Facebook are set to go live later today, according to Facebook. You should see them at the top of your feeds in both the Facebook and Instagram applications.
