Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Dec 12, 2025

Instagram Placed A Disclaimer For People Searching The #Coronavirus Hashtag To Reduce Misinformation

Instagram Placed A Disclaimer For People Searching The #Coronavirus Hashtag To Reduce Misinformation

Facebook has also said it would conduct "proactive sweeps" in order to remove or block hashtags spreading misinformation on Instagram.
When users click into the #coronavirus hashtag on Instagram, they will now see a notice encouraging them to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for credible information about the virus.

Instagram officially implemented the update on Sunday after parent company Facebook first announced plans to combat misinformation about the virus two weeks ago.

"When people ... tap a related hashtag on Instagram, we will surface an educational pop-up with credible information," Facebook said.

A company spokesperson told BuzzFeed News on Tuesday that the CDC warning was part of an effort to "help reduce the spread of information that could put people in harm's way."

Facebook has also said it would conduct "proactive sweeps" in order to remove or block hashtags spreading misinformation on Instagram. It did not say what hashtags have been removed, if any.

The CDC warning follows initiatives taken by other giant social media platforms, like Pinterest, who also placed a disclaimer above pins and hashtags related to the coronavirus.

BuzzFeed News first encountered Instagram's change when clicking across this Instagram post with the #coronavirus hashtag from a German fitness influencer vacationing in Thailand.

@Fitnessoskar shared a photo of him and his partner kissing in matching face masks, writing, in German, that while they're not afraid of the virus, they're still wearing masks for self-protection. He said he's been getting a lot of questions about whether or not he's fearful about the virus while he's in Phuket, Thailand. He ends his long caption by asking his fans to share their thoughts and opinions on the virus in the comments.

The post is hashtagged with a few things, including #kiss and #coronavirus.

Along with explicit misinformation and directly dangerous content that's being shared about the virus on social media, the hashtag also attracts memes and insensitive jokes.

As happens with any global crises nowadays, a handful of opportune users are also hashtagging #coronavirus for personal content and other self-interest values, like clout.

However, the priority for Facebook and Instagram seems to be posts with overt misinformation.

In addition to the disclaimer, the company said it has offered free advertising credits to health organizations who want to run educational ads about the coronavirus on its platforms, and that it's "closely coordinating" with these organizations to provide "accurate information about the situation."

Large social media companies have come under scrutiny over the years for enabling, or being slow to take action against, misinformed health-related content.

Many false or false posts have spread on Facebook in relation to the coronavirus.

As YouTube and Facebook are trying to crack down on fake and unverified content, among 500 of the most-watched videos featuring the keyword “coronavirus" that BuzzFeed News watched, dozens of videos included unconfirmed or made-up facts. The questionable YouTube videos then are shared to Facebook, where they rapidly go viral.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Fake Doctor in Uttar Pradesh Accused of Killing Woman After Performing YouTube-Based Surgery
Hackers Are Hiding Malware in Open-Source Tools and IDE Extensions
Traveling to USA? Homeland Security moving toward requiring foreign travelers to share social media history
UK Officials Push Back at Trump Saying European Leaders ‘Talk Too Much’ About Ukraine
UK Warns of Escalating Cyber Assault Linked to Putin’s State-Backed Operations
UK Consumer Spending Falters in November as Households Hold Back Ahead of Budget
UK Orders Fresh Review of Prince Harry’s Security Status After Formal Request
U.S. Authorises Nvidia to Sell H200 AI Chips to China Under Security Controls
Trump in Direct Assault: European Leaders Are Weak, Immigration a Disaster. Russia Is Strong and Big — and Will Win
"App recommendation" or disguised advertisement? ChatGPT Premium users are furious
"The Great Filtering": Australia Blocks Hundreds of Thousands of Minors From Social Networks
Mark Zuckerberg Pulls Back From Metaverse After $70 Billion Loss as Meta Shifts Priorities to AI
Nvidia CEO Says U.S. Data-Center Builds Take Years while China ‘Builds a Hospital in a Weekend’
Indian Airports in Turmoil as IndiGo Cancels Over a Thousand Flights, Stranding Thousands
Hollywood Industry on Edge as Netflix Secures Near-$60 Bln Loan for Warner Bros Takeover
Drugs and Assassinations: The Connection Between the Italian Mafia and Football Ultras
Hollywood megadeal: Netflix acquires Warner Bros. Discovery for 83 billion dollars
The Disregard for a Europe ‘in Danger of Erasure,’ the Shift Toward Russia: Trump’s Strategic Policy Document
Two and a Half Weeks After the Major Outage: A Cloudflare Malfunction Brings Down Multiple Sites
UK data-regulator demands urgent clarity on racial bias in police facial-recognition systems
Labour Uses Biscuits to Explain UK Debt — MPs Lean Into Social Media to Reach New Audiences
German President Lays Wreath at Coventry as UK-Germany Reaffirm Unity Against Russia’s Threat
UK Inquiry Finds Putin ‘Morally Responsible’ for 2018 Novichok Death — London Imposes Broad Sanctions on GRU
India backs down on plan to mandate government “Sanchar Saathi” app on all smartphones
King Charles Welcomes German President Steinmeier to UK in First State Visit by Berlin in 27 Years
UK Plans Major Cutback to Jury Trials as Crown Court Backlog Nears 80,000
UK Government to Significantly Limit Jury Trials in England and Wales
U.S. and U.K. Seal Drug-Pricing Deal: Britain Agrees to Pay More, U.S. Lifts Tariffs
UK Postpones Decision Yet Again on China’s Proposed Mega-Embassy in London
Head of UK Budget Watchdog Resigns After Premature Leak of Reeves’ Budget Report
Car-sharing giant Zipcar to exit UK market by end of 2025
Reports of Widespread Drone Deployment Raise Privacy and Security Questions in the UK
UK Signals Security Concerns Over China While Pursuing Stronger Trade Links
Google warns of AI “irrationality” just as Gemini 3 launch rattles markets
Top Consultancies Freeze Starting Salaries as AI Threatens ‘Pyramid’ Model
Macron Says Washington Pressuring EU to Delay Enforcement of Digital-Regulation Probes Against Meta, TikTok and X
UK’s DragonFire Laser Downs High-Speed Drones as £316m Deal Speeds Naval Deployment
UK Chancellor Rejects Claims She Misled Public on Fiscal Outlook Ahead of Budget
Starmer Defends Autumn Budget as Finance Chief Faces Accusations of Misleading Public Finances
EU Firms Struggle with 3,000-Hour Paperwork Load — While Automakers Fear De Facto 2030 Petrol Car Ban
White House launches ‘Hall of Shame’ site to publicly condemn media outlets for alleged bias
UK Budget’s New EV Mileage Tax Undercuts Case for Plug-In Hybrids
UK Government Launches National Inquiry into ‘Grooming Gangs’ After US Warning and Rising Public Outcry
Taylor Swift Extends U.K. Chart Reign as ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ Hits Six Weeks at No. 1
250 Still Missing in the Massive Fire, 94 Killed. One Day After the Disaster: Survivor Rescued on the 16th Floor
Trump: National Guard Soldier Who Was Shot in Washington Has Died; Second Soldier Fighting for His Life
UK Chancellor Reeves Defends Tax Rises as Essential to Reduce Child Poverty and Stabilise Public Finances
No Evidence Found for Claim That UK Schools Are Shifting to Teaching American English
European Powers Urge Israel to Halt West Bank Settler Violence Amid Surge in Attacks
"I Would Have Given Her a Kidney": She Lent Bezos’s Ex-Wife $1,000 — and Received Millions in Return
×