SAN FRANCISCO — With the threat of the coronavirus growing, Aleksandra Kuzmanovic sat at her computer in Geneva on Monday and sent out an important public health email. She works for the World Health Organization and her aim was to assess and stop a global spread — not of the dangerous virus but of hazardous false information. She wanted to halt what her colleagues at the health agency are calling an “infodemic.”She emailed a contact at Pinterest, the image-sharing social media giant based here in San Francisco, to ask if the site could help the W.H.O. combat the blazing spread of misinformation, lies and rumors about the new virus. Starting Thursday afternoon, when Pinterest users search for coronavirus, they get a link to a page of coronavirus “mythbusters” from the W.H.O.

Source: New York Times February 06, 2020 20:45 UTC