Facebook mistakenly shut down Illinois coroner’s page with COVID-19 data, company says
An Illinois coroner says Facebook abruptly shut down an official page he used to share COVID-19 information with the community.
Kankakee County Coroner Robert Gessner says the Facebook page was deactivated with “no warning, notification or explanation” early Wednesday morning, according to a news release. The coroner’s office has used the social media platform to share “factual and valid information regarding deaths” in the county, with more than 250,000 interactions since March, officials say.
“It is disheartening that in the middle of a global health pandemic, Facebook has removed our page which has been a source of honest and truthful information over the past several months,” Gessner said in the news release. “As an elected official and leader within our county it is my duty to enhance community partnerships and education throughout the county to provide awareness to issues such as Covid-19.”
After McClatchy News asked Facebook about the deactivation, the company looked into the issue and determined “the page had been temporarily disabled incorrectly by an automated security protection function,” a spokesperson said. The page was restored.
Facebook has taken measures to prevent spread of misinformation about the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
For example, the social media company announced plans in April to notify users if they reacted or commented on information since removed for being inaccurate, McClatchy News reported.
A week ago, Facebook announced it was removing conspiracy theorist groups like QAnon and militia groups if they promote violence. The company also said it will limit the reach of these pages with upcoming policy changes, including limiting recommendations, reducing ranking in the news feed and reducing search results.
Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey quipped he was giving the coroner a “Get out of Facebook Jail Free” card until the page is reactivated.
“In all seriousness, we applaud Coroner Bob Gessner for continuing to provide the Kankakee County community with unbiased data, free of personal opinions, and we hope that Facebook eventually does, as well,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 2:07 PM.