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Keeping Pakistanis Safe and Informed about the Coronavirus

We’re working to keep Pakistanis, and everyone globally, safe and informed about the coronavirus. Four areas we’re focused on: making sure everyone has accurate information, stopping misinformation and harmful content, supporting health experts and relief efforts, and supporting local governments, communities and businesses.

Facebook is working with the Pakistani government, communities, and businesses to amplify the power of technology. Here’s an overview of our work and shortcuts to more information.

Making sure everyone has accurate information

Anyone who searches for information related to the virus on Facebook and Instagram is shown educational pop-ups on top of search results connecting them to health authorities and health organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO). We’ve launched these globally over the last few weeks in all languages on Facebook and Instagram.

In Pakistan, we are working with the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (NHSRC) and world organisations such as WHO and UNICEF to provide accurate information about COVID-19.

+92-300- 1111166

Faiza Saleem

Over the past month, we notified millions of people on their News Feed with posts directing them to local health authorities on Facebook for further information about the Coronavirus.

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local food banks

More recently, Facebook launched a Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Center on the platform to act as a central hub for people to find information and resources from trusted health authorities such as the NHSRC, as well as actions they can take to stay healthy and support their family and community.

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

+92-300- 1111166

Also, we’re incredibly inspired by how people are using Facebook to support their local communities. To amplify these efforts, we launched Community Help, a destination for people to help their neighbors most impacted by COVID-19. Through Community Help, people can either request or offer help to their neighbors and donate to fundraisers for relief efforts. For example, people can use Community Help for everything from delivering groceries to elderly neighbors to volunteering to distribute food through local food banks. Community Help is accessible via the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Center or by clicking here.

Faiza Saleem

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WhatsApp also launched a WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub to provide simple, actionable guidance for health workers, educators, community leaders, nonprofits, local governments and local businesses that rely on WhatsApp to communicate. The hub also offers general tips and resources for users around the world to reduce the spread of rumors and obtain accurate health information.

Stopping misinformation and harmful content

Globally, and also in Pakistan, our third-party fact-checkers are continuing their work, reviewing content and debunking false claims related to the coronavirus. When they rate information as false, we limit its spread on Facebook and Instagram and show people accurate information from these partners. We also send notifications to people who already shared or are trying to share this content to alert them that it’s been fact-checked.

We will also start to remove content with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations and local health authorities that could cause harm to people who believe them. We are doing this as an extension of our existing policies to remove content that could cause physical harm.

We are temporarily banning advertisements and commerce listings, like those on Marketplace, that sell medical face masks. We already prohibit people from making health or medical claims related to the coronavirus in product listings on commerce surfaces, including those listings that guarantee a product will prevent someone from contracting it. We also have a dedicated channel for local governments to share listings they believe violate local laws. Our teams are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely and will make necessary updates to our policies if we see people trying to exploit this public health emergency.

Supporting local governments, communities and businesses

Government

Globally, we’re helping governments and emergency response organizations communicate with their communities. Many governments have used Facebook to share critical information with their communities about the situation.

In Pakistan, we helped NHSRC in boosting key messages about COVID-19 on our platform. Similarly, with the support of Facebook and Botsify.com, the NHSRC launched an automated Messenger Experience in English and Urdu to help people determine if they need to be seen by a doctor for coronavirus, and get the latest updates on the number of cases and regions affected by the coronavirus. It also helps people find labs nearby and provides answers to the most common questions about the coronavirus.

local food banks

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

Similarly, WhatsApp has also partnered with NHSRC to launch a Corona Helpline (+92-300- 1111166) on WhatsApp in 6 local languages (including Pashto, Sindhi, Punjabi, Baluchi and Kashmiri). The  automated ‘chatbot’ service allows citizens to get answers to the most common questions about Coronavirus from the Ministry of Health 24 hours a day.

The service will provide information on topics such as Coronavirus prevention and symptoms, the latest number of cases, and other health information.

+92-300- 1111166

Faiza Saleem

Businesses

While the health and safety of people is our top priority, the impact of this pandemic is being felt around the world.

We’re focused on making it easy to find help, training and support from our teams. We made it easy to find resources that we, and the healthcare community, have available through our Business Resource Hub. In Pakistan, we are hosting webinars to educate clients about the changes in the user behaviors during COVID-19 to help them pivot their strategy during this period.

Messenger had also launched a Messenger Coronavirus Community Hub with tips and resources to keep people connected to their friends, family, colleagues and community, and prevent the spread of misinformation.

Communities

To empower the local startup community during this difficult time, we’ll be conducting weekly online sessions, to equip early-stage startups with the necessary training and tools to scale their business ideas into investable companies. This is part of our Startup Circles bootcamps, which will run across three cities in Pakistan – Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi, and give startups the opportunity to learn from domain experts who will cover a range of relevant topics such as Product Market fit and Customer Discovery. We’re currently calling for applications for startups to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurs where they can share learnings and find support.

Similarly, over the past few weeks, we’ve partnered with local broadcasters and influencers such as Faiza Saleem , UrduPoint and Hum TV to bring informative video content surrounding COVID-19 that is entertaining yet educational to the Pakistani audience.

You can learn more about our work in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in this link.

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