WHO says Google to combat novel coronavirus misinformation

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a press conference following a WHO Emergency committee to discuss whether the Coronavirus, the SARS-like virus, outbreak that began in China constitutes an international health emergency, on January 30, 2020, in Geneva. – The UN health agency declared an international emergency over the deadly coronavirus from China – a rarely used designation that could lead to improved international coordination in tackling the disease. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

BEIJING — The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday it is working with Google to ensure that searches about the new virus from China turn up information from the United Nations health agency first, part of efforts to fight “rumors and misinformation” about the outbreak.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the opening of WHO’s executive board meeting on February 3 that social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Tencent, and TikTok “have also taken steps to limit the spread of misinformation” about the virus and outbreak that first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December and has now spread to 23 other countries.

The number of people infected by the virus globally has topped 17,000. It has killed more than 360 people in China and one in the Philippines.