Facebook introduces COVID 19 Information Center in 17 Africa Countries.

Social Media Giant Facebook is introducing COVID 19 Information Centers in 17 Africa Countries.

The 17 African countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, DR Congo, and Togo.

This follows Facebook’s attempt to battle the deadly Coronavirus in Africa.

Thus the Center would provide people with credible information and prevention tips on COVID 19.

Facebook’s Information Center will be featured at the top of the News Feed and it will be a central place for people to be reliably informed about the virus.

The Center will contain real-time updates from national health authorities and organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), helpful articles, videos and posts on the prevention of the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Also, Facebook users have the opportunity of choosing to get notifications and updates on their News Feeds.

Speaking on the above issue, Kojo Boakye, Head of Public Policy, Facebook Africa, said “We’ve built the information centers, in collaboration with national health partners, to ensure that people can get access to information from trusted health sources.

“The launch of the COVID-19 Information Center on Facebook in more than 17 countries across sub-Saharan Africa aligns with our commitment to making accurate, timely information about the pandemic accessible to all communities”, he said.

The Information Centers will give researchers and non-profits more access to  Facebook data which can be used in understanding the coronavirus spread.

During these difficult times of COVID 19, Facebook has done a lot to save the situation. Not long ago Facebook gave $100 Million to local news media and $ 40 million to small businesses in America amid COVID 19.

Apart from that Facebook is using WhatsApp to limit misinformation by reducing the number of messages users can forward on a WhatsApp group.